Samsung ranks third in global smartwatch market for Q2 2021, India is fastest-growing smartwatch market

The latest report from Counterpoint Research reveals the state of the wearables market, particularly among smartwatches. The overall smartwatch is seeing significant growth, with 27% more shipments in Q2 of 2021 compared to the same quarter in 2020. This is attributed to an increase in demand for smartwatches cheaper than $100. This category of smartwatches grew in shipments by 547% YoY for Q2 2021.

Samsung ranked third this quarter, seeing a 43% increase in shipments, surpassing the average growth rate. Samsung was able to improve sales both the Galaxy Watch3 and Galaxy Watch Active2 compared to last year. Garmin saw even more growth at 62% YoY, shipping the most smartwatches during a quarter ever in the company's history. It's smartwatches are popular among hikers and outdoor fitness enthusiasts for its GPS features.

Apple remains at the top, with 28% global market share and steady growth as represented by Apple Watch users crossing the 100 million users mark for the first time. Senior Analyst at Counterpoint says "The US continues to be the key Apple Watch market, contributing to more than half of its user base, with an attach rate of close to 30%."

North America is the largest smartwatch market, followed by China. Meanwhile, India is the fastest growing market, likely marked by the mass-market appeal of smartwatches dropping below $100 while coming with features from more expensive ones, particularly SPO2 and heart rate monitoring. India went from being 2% of global smartwatch shipments up to 6% thanks to popularity of smartwatches from Xiaomi, Realme, Oppo, and the rise of Indian brands boAt and Noise.

Although Huawei ranked second during the quarter, it was the only of the top five smartwatch brands to see declining shipments. Counterpoint speculates this is a parallel effect of the brand's smartphone business declining as well.

With Samsung smartwatch adoption rising, it will be interesting to see if the unification with Wear OS and Samsung's most recent duo of smartwatches will will pay off to catapult Wear OS into popularity.

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