Huawei overtakes Apple in smartwatch market share

Global smartwatch shipments declined 4% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2026, marking the market's first annual drop in a year, according to Counterpoint Research. The downturn was driven by longer replacement cycles among premium buyers and continued weakness in the basic smartwatch segment.ithinkdiff+1

Huawei Leads, Apple Grows Fastest

Huawei claimed the top spot with a record 22% global market share in Q2 2026, edging past Apple ↘ 0.80% at 20%. However, nearly 80% of Huawei's volume came from China alone, where strong local demand and government consumer electronics subsidies fueled growth. China as a region reached a record 38% share of global smartwatch shipments, growing 7% year-over-year.counterpointresearch+2

Apple, despite slipping to second place, recorded the fastest year-over-year growth among the top five brands at 14%, with gains across every region Counterpoint tracks. Its refreshed lineup — the Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch SE 3, and Apple Watch Ultra 3 — drove the performance, with the Series 11 and SE 3 together accounting for more than 80% of Apple's global shipments. Apple also posted a recovery in China after declining in the same quarter a year earlier.ithinkdiff+1

Muted Outlook and India's Continued Slide

Counterpoint forecasts just 1% growth for the global smartwatch market for the full year 2026, projecting a 3% compound annual growth rate through 2030. The firm pointed to edge AI capabilities, blood pressure tracking, and non-invasive glucose monitoring as features that could eventually bring hesitant upgraders back to the market.ithinkdiff

India's wearables market continued its decline separately, with shipments falling 7.4% year-over-year to 24.7 million units in Q2 2026, according to IDC's India Monthly Wearable Device Tracker. That followed a 4% full-year decline in 2025, when total shipments fell to 114.2 million units. The Indian market has now recorded multiple consecutive quarters of contraction as the initial wave of low-cost wearable adoption fades.biztechreports+1