The global sales of smartwatches have fallen for the first time ever after a sharp decline in Apple's popularity.
According to BBC, new figures from the research firm Counterpoint revealed that compared to the previous years, 7% fewer smartwatches were shipped in 2024, while the shipment of Apple Watches fell by 19%.
Counterpoint senior research analyst Anshika Jain said, “The biggest driver of the decline was North America, where the absence of the Ultra 3 and minimal feature upgrades in the S10 lineup led consumers to hold back purchases.”
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He noted that the patent dispute of Apple, which led to sales and import bans in the US in late 2023 and early 2024, also contributed to the slump as the company recorded lower sales figures in the first half of 2024.
By the end of the year, it retained 22% of market share, which was down from 25% in 2023.
Leo Gebbie, principal analyst at CCS Insight, explained, “We've been through a period where the smartwatch has gone from being a new and exciting gadget to something now that's stabilising, the feature set isn't changing very dramatically year over year.”
Furthermore, despite the overall global decline, Chinese-made smartwatches from Xiaomi, Huawei, and Imoo saw a massive rise in sales last year.
The sale of the Chinese smartwatches grew from 19% of the market to 25% in 2024 from the last quarter of 2023.
Counterpoint expects that the global market will get a little better with only “single-digit percentage growth in 2025." The growth will be due to the incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) features in the smartwatches.
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