Samsung’s wearable market share grows, while Apple and Huawei fall
The smartwatch market is about to heat up, but Samsung is already in a pretty good position following its 43% growth in Q2 2021 compared to Q2 2020. Samsung currently ranks behind Apple and Huawei, but after seeing a resurgence in its Galaxy Watch 3 and Watch 2 Active sales, the company could be poised to overtake Huawei.
In a report from Yonhap, Samsung “logged a market share of 7.6% in the April-June period.” This marked a solid increase compared to the 6.8% market share from the same time period last year.
The increase in market share was made possible by the continued popularity of the Galaxy Watch 2 Active and Galaxy Watch 3. However, the Watch 2 Active likely provided a bulk of the heavy lifting as it was the third-most-popular smartwatch, coming behind the Apple Watch Series 6 and Watch SE.
Out of the top three brands, Samsung was the only company to see any substantial growth. Huawei dropped to 9.3% market share, down from the 13.1% it previously held. Meanwhile, Apple’s market share also dropped to 28%, down from 30.1% compared to this time last year.
The Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic are making their official debut tomorrow (although some pre-orders have already been delivered). This is likely to help boost Samsung’s market share even further as they not only replace the Watch 3 and Watch 2 Active, but also are currently the only smartwatches powered by the new Wear OS 3. Apple is also expected to unveil the Apple Watch Series 7 as early as next month, which could offer a redesign to the wearable and might drive Apple’s market share even higher.
We’re expecting to see more Wear OS 3 smartwatches in the coming months, but there’s still no word as to when those might arrive. We’re also awaiting the arrival of the Wear OS 3 update for last-generation smartwatches, such as the TicWatch Pro 3. But for now, Samsung has turned into the best option for those who want the latest wearable software experience on the Android side.