The analyst company, IDC has revealed that the wrist-worn device market, which includes smartwatches and wristbands, shrunk by 0.7% in the second quarter compared to the same period in 2023. This poor performance was contrasted in China where the market saw 10.9% year-over-year growth.
The top five brands for wearables were Huawei, Xiaomi, Apple, Samsung, and BBK. Notably, Apple was the only company with a negative growth rate, recording -11.8%. Its shipments dropped from 6.5 million in Q2 2023 to 5.7 million in Q2 2024.
Explaining the reason behind this, IDC said:
"Apple's smartwatches have been affected by the global macroeconomic environment and fierce price competition in the market, leading to a decline in shipments. However, it is worth mentioning that Apple still ranks first in the global smartwatch market, which also represents its iconic market position in product development and sales performance. With the upcoming fall new product launch, Apple's next-generation smartwatches will be highly anticipated and are expected to boost its temporarily declining market performance."
Despite efforts by the US to restrict Huawei's access to Google Play on mobile and make the company less appealing to customers, its wrist-worn devices have done exceptionally well. In the second quarter, it shipped 8.9 million wrist-worn devices compared to 6.3 million a year before. That's a massive 42.1% in growth. In the Chinese market, Huawei's growth was recorded at 36.6%, showing that its domestic market is helping to prop it up. Speaking about Huawei, IDC said:
"Huawei achieved significant growth in 1H24 with the launch of new wristbands and smartwatches which resulted in a 55.1% YoY increase of shipments, leading the global wrist-worn market for two consecutive quarters now. It has made substantial progress in regions such as the Middle East and Africa, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe. The new Fit 3 has played an important complementary role in its smartwatch product line, significantly driving the growth of its wrist-worn shipments. In addition, Huawei has been leading China's wrist-worn market since 2021."
There were several reasons for the success in China despite falling shipments on the global scale. One reason was that the public in China is gaining an increased interest in health issues and these smartwatches can help you track things like heart rate and sleep.
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