Smartwatch Statistics 2027: Market Share and Shipments

Smartwatch statistics are tracked in shipped units by research firms like Counterpoint Research and IDC, since Apple and most vendors keep their own sales numbers private. That makes these outside trackers the closest thing to a real scoreboard for who is winning the category. This post covers 10 numbers on market share, shipment growth, and pricing trends, each tied to a named source and year.

Key Smartwatch Statistics (2027)

Smartwatch market share for full-year 2025 puts Apple at 23%, Huawei at 17%, Xiaomi at 9%, and Samsung at about 7% (Counterpoint Research, 2026).
Global smartwatch shipments grew 4% year over year in 2025, reversing a decline in 2024 (Counterpoint Research, 2026).
The $200 to $400 smartwatch price band grew 48% year over year in shipments, while sub-$200 shipments fell 9% (Counterpoint Research, 2026).
China overtook North America in 2025 to become the largest market for advanced smartwatches, rising to about 31% of the global market (Counterpoint Research, 2026).
Apple's smartwatch shipments grew 21% year over year in Q1 2026, the fastest growth among the top 10 brands (Counterpoint Research, 2026).
Huawei briefly overtook Apple in quarterly smartwatch shipments in Q2 2025, the first time that had happened (Counterpoint Research, 2025).
India's smartwatch shipments fell 17.6% year over year to 28.9 million units in 2025, even as average selling prices rose 11.7% (IDC, 2026).

Counterpoint Research's full-year 2025 smartwatch tracker put Apple at 23% global market share, Huawei at 17%, Xiaomi at 9%, Samsung at about 7%, and Imoo at about 7%. Apple has held the top spot on an annual basis, but the gap to Huawei has been narrowing steadily as Huawei's growth outpaces the market.

Source: Counterpoint Research, "Global Smartwatch Shipments Swing to Growth in 2025 Led by China"

Huawei posted the fastest growth of any major smartwatch vendor in 2025, with shipments up 30% year over year, lifting its global share from 13% to 17%. Samsung moved the opposite direction, with shipments down 12% year over year and share falling to about 7%. Xiaomi held roughly steady at 9% share on 18% shipment growth. The vendor rankings below Apple are shifting fast, largely on the strength of Huawei's growth in China.

Source: Counterpoint Research, "Global Smartwatch Shipments Swing to Growth in 2025 Led by China"

3. Global smartwatch shipments grew 4% in 2025, reversing a decline

After shipments fell in 2024, the global smartwatch market grew 4% year over year in 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. That reversal came alongside a shift toward pricier devices, not just more units at the low end, which is why unit growth and revenue growth for the category are not telling identical stories right now.

Source: Counterpoint Research, "Global Smartwatch Shipments Swing to Growth in 2025 Led by China"

4. Premium smartwatches are growing far faster than budget models

Shipments of smartwatches priced between $200 and $400 grew 48% year over year in 2025, while shipments of models under $200 fell 9%. Cellular-enabled smartwatches grew 6% year over year, outpacing the overall market. Buyers are increasingly choosing watches with more sensors and standalone connectivity rather than the cheapest option available, which is also why average selling prices rose across the category.

Source: Counterpoint Research, "Global Smartwatch Shipments Swing to Growth in 2025 Led by China"

5. China passed North America as the top market for advanced smartwatches

Counterpoint Research found that China overtook North America in 2025 to become the largest market for "advanced" smartwatches, the higher-end category that includes cellular and health-focused models. China's share of that segment rose from about 25% to about 31% of the global total in a single year, driven by strong local demand for Huawei and other domestic brands.

Source: Counterpoint Research, "Global Smartwatch Shipments Swing to Growth in 2025 Led by China"

6. Apple's Q1 2026 shipments grew 21%, the fastest of any top vendor

Apple's smartwatch shipments rose 21% year over year in the first quarter of 2026, which Counterpoint Research called the fastest growth among the top 10 brands that quarter, against 4% overall market growth. That surge followed Apple's Series 11, Ultra 3, and SE 3 refresh. Our Apple Watch statistics post covers what is driving that specific growth in more depth.

Source: Counterpoint Research, "Global Smartwatch Shipments Maintain Growth Momentum in Q1 2026"

7. Huawei briefly took the lead from Apple in mid-2025

For one quarter, the picture flipped. Counterpoint Research reported that Huawei overtook Apple in quarterly smartwatch shipments in Q2 2025, the first time that had happened. Apple's hardware refresh, followed by 21% shipment growth in Q1 2026, helped it retake the top spot. It is a reminder that Apple's lead, while consistent on an annual basis, is not automatic quarter to quarter.

Source: Counterpoint Research, "Huawei Surpasses Apple in Q2 2025 Smartwatch Shipments"

8. India's smartwatch shipments fell 17.6% even as prices rose

India, one of the largest smartwatch markets by volume, saw shipments fall 17.6% year over year to 28.9 million units in 2025, according to IDC. Average selling prices rose 11.7% to about $26.50, and offline retail grew to 40.7% of volume while online sales declined. Among Indian vendors, Noise held 26.6% of the smartwatch segment, with boAt at 14.1% and Fire-Boltt at 9.7%.

Source: IDC, "India's Wearables Market Declines 4.0%"

9. Wrist-worn shipments topped 150 million units in nine months

Global wrist-worn device shipments, a category that spans smartwatches and simpler wristbands, topped 150 million units in the first nine months of 2025, up 10% year over year, according to a report citing Counterpoint and IDC-sourced data. Huawei shipped about 28.6 million units globally in that window, and Xiaomi shipped about 27.9 million, the fastest-growing vendor in the top five.

Source: AndroidHeadlines, citing Counterpoint/IDC-sourced data

10. The smartwatch industry is projected to grow 3% a year through 2030

Counterpoint Research's Q1 2026 report projects the smartwatch industry will grow at a compound annual rate of about 3% through 2030. That is a modest, mature-market growth rate compared with the double-digit swings the category saw a decade ago, and it lines up with the shift toward pricier, feature-rich devices rather than a flood of new first-time buyers.

Source: Counterpoint Research, "Global Smartwatch Shipments Maintain Growth Momentum in Q1 2026"

Two trends define smartwatch statistics for 2026. Apple still leads on an annual basis, but Huawei is closing the gap fast, growing 30% in 2025 against Apple's steadier pace. And the category as a whole is shifting toward pricier, more capable devices rather than chasing raw unit volume at any cost, shown by premium shipments growing far faster than budget models.

Regionally, the story is not uniform either. China has become the center of gravity for advanced smartwatches, while a major volume market like India actually contracted in 2025, as we cover in our wearable technology statistics roundup. A single global growth number hides very different realities depending on where you look.

What ties these numbers together is that smartwatches are maturing from a fast-growing gadget category into a steady, feature-driven upgrade cycle, closer to how people replace phones than how they adopted an entirely new device a decade ago.

Smartwatch statistics for 2026 point to a market that is still growing, but where winning market share now depends on features and price tier, not just being first to a new customer's wrist.

Where Speakwise Fits Into the Smartwatch Story

As competition among smartwatch makers shifts toward features rather than raw growth, what a watch can actually do for you day to day matters more. On Apple Watch, one of the most useful upgrades is capturing a voice recording without touching your phone. The Speakwise Apple Watch companion app lets you start and stop a recording from your wrist with a single tap, and it syncs automatically to your iPhone, where you get a full transcript, an AI summary, and speaker labels.

Download Speakwise from the App Store and get a transcript and summary from every recording you start on your Apple Watch.

Speakwise is free to download with a free trial, then a Pro subscription through the App Store.