Consumers forgo smartwatches as Apple loses market share to India

When it comes to telling time, fewer people are looking toward newer smartwatches to do the job.

For the second consecutive quarter, smartwatch shipments declined due to seasonal drops in demand and as consumers tightened their belts due to global financial pressure, according to Counterpoint Research.

Smartwatch shipments worldwide declined 1.5% year over year in Q1 2023, according to Counterpoint Research’s Global Smartwatch Model Tracker, following an 8% YoY decline in Q4 2022.

For the first time in three years, Apple’s Q1 smartwatch shipments dipped below 10 million units, reflecting a 20% drop YoY. The smartwatch leader’s global market share dropped to 26% from 32% in Q1 2022.

Counterpoint’s report attributed the decline to the “ongoing macroeconomic crisis, which has led to decreased accessibility to relatively higher-priced Apple Watches,” and said that the Series 8 watch simply wasn’t as successful as the Series 7.

Every region around the world, with the exception of India, experienced a decline. Indian smartwatch company Fire-Boltt made massive inroads into the smartwatch space, usurping Korean behemoth Samsung from the second-place spot in terms of market share, increasing to 9% of global market share.

Huawei, which held the third position in market share with 7% in Q1 2022, fell out of the top three off the back of a 14% YoY drop in shipments to China.

Despite Apple’s decline in overall market share this quarter, adoption of the Apple Watch in concert with the iPhone has significantly contributed to Apple’s position at the top, where last year it captured about 56% of market share in the US smartwatch industry, according to Counterpoint.