The global smartwatch market managed to grow 12-percent in Q1 2020 over last year’s figures, according to the most recently-reported Canalys Wearable Band Analysis. The figures also notably show that for the first time since Canalys started its analyses of the industry, North America “accounted for less than a third of global smartwatch shipments.”
Regionally, China saw the most growth in smartwatch shipments. The region saw a growth of 66-percent for the first quarter of this year from last year. A large portion of those were cellular data-enabled smartwatches. In total, around 2.5 million such watches were shipped ahead of the Chinese New Year. That came in tandem with a nationwide move toward eSIM technologies.
Those models also contributed to Xiaomi and Apple’s gains in the region on a quarter over quarter basis. Canalys indicates that typically, China sees more smartwatch sales in the preceding quarter. The region is expected to remain the leader in terms of growth over the course of 2020. That’s attributed to China’s economic recovery and strong showings from companies such as OPPO, Xiaomi, and Huawei.
Who won out in Q1 2020 …and who didn’t?
In terms of smartwatch growth on the global scale for Q1 2020, Apple remains at the top of the pile at 36.3-percent market share and 5.2 million shipments. The second and third place companies here were Huawei and Samsung with 2.1 and 1.8 million shipments, respectively.
Although Apple is still at the top, its year-over-year growth was in the negative by 13-percent. Huawei and Samsung smartwatch shipments grew 113-percent and 46-percent.
Rounding out the top five are Garmin and Fitbit. Garmin managed to see year-over-year growth at around 39-percent with 1.1 million smartwatch shipments. Google-owned Fitbit declined annually by 21-percent to 0.9million smartwatches shipped. That’s despite making some headway into the enterprise side of the business.
The smartphone market didn’t fare quite so well but Apple is dominating smartwatches
According to Canalys Analyst Vincent Thielke, Apple is and will likely continue to dominate the smartwatch market going forward. Its decline, Mr. Thielke notes, likely stems from the company’s customers “switching their attention to AirPods as a ‘must-have’ accessory.”
While its figures are down overall, demand for Apple’s Watch outside of Europe and North America have bolstered the slower demand there. Samsung and Garmin both increased their own figures in those markets where Apple fell short too.
But Apple’s growth elsewhere is effectively “locking in” a portion of the iOS base elsewhere, Mr. Thielke says. Specifically, that’s in Southeast Asia and Latin America where it has forged new carrier partnerships.
Simultaneously, some of Huawei’s growth can be attributed to its decision to include its wearables with the purchase of its P40 flagship.
Smartphone sales themselves, have fared less well. The overall market for the premium handheld gadgets globally fell 13-percent in the first quarter, with Apple leading the way. That decline can largely be attributed to buyer confidence amid the ongoing health crisis. But buyers also appear to be purchasing lower-cost devices as the price of top flagships continues to rise.
China appears to be dominating that sector as well. Or at least on 5G devices. The country accounted for as many as 63-percent of the smartphones shipped in the premium segment with 5G for Q1 2020.