Canalys: Worldwide smartwatch shipments grew 12% in Q1 2020 despite coronavirus

Worldwide smartwatch shipments reached 14.3 million units in Q1 2020, up 12% year on year, despite COVID-19. Though Apple’s shipments fell 13%, its smartwatch platform remains the world’s largest and is growing steadily. WatchOS gained 4 million new active users during the quarter, bringing the total installed base to an estimated 70 million. In the next three months, lifetime Apple Watch shipments will reach 100 million units.

Worldwide smartwatch shipments and annual growth
Canalys Smartwatch Market Pulse: Q1 2020

Vendor

Q1 2020 shipments (million)

Q1 2020

market share

Q1 2019 shipments (million)

Q1 2019

market share

Annual
growth

Apple 

5.2

36.3%

6.0

46.7%

-13%

Huawei

2.1

14.9%

1.0

7.9%

+113%

Samsung

1.8

12.4%

1.2

9.6%

+46%

Garmin

1.1

7.3%

0.8

5.9%

+39%

Fitbit

0.9

6.2%

1.1

8.9%

-21%

Others

3.3

22.8%

2.6

20.8%

+24%

Total 

14.3

100.0%

12.7

100.0%

+12%

Note: percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding
Source: Canalys Wearable Band Analysis (sell-in shipments),
May 2020

This is the first time North America accounted for less than a third of global smartwatch shipments. Canalys Analyst Vincent Thielke said, “Strong overseas demand for smartwatches helped offset the Apple Watch’s slow performance in Europe and North America, which was due to Apple customers switching their attention to AirPods as a ‘must-have’ accessory. Notably, Samsung and Garmin increased Q1 sell-in to these markets. Elsewhere, Apple and Huawei captured the greatest number of new users. Apple got a boost from its latest carrier partnerships in Southeast Asia and Latin America, and Huawei included its smartwatch with purchases of its latest P40 flagship smartphone. As Android smartphone vendors in emerging markets face rising competition from challengers such as Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo, the Apple Watch is locking in an increasing portion of the iOS base there, offering greater assurance of future iPhone upgrades.”

Canalys estimates and forecasts, smartwatch users, June 2020

Smartwatch shipments in China grew 66% in Q1 2020, rivaling North American shipments. Research Analyst Cynthia Chen said, “Vendors filled huge LTE orders ahead of Chinese New Year as part of the move toward nationwide eSIM coverage, shipping 2.5 million cellular smartwatches. Cellular models enabled Xiaomi and Apple to grow smartwatch shipments quarter on quarter, which is unprecedented, since the fourth quarter is traditionally China’s high season for smartwatch sales. We expect China will be the key smartwatch growth driver in 2020 as a result of its strongly recovered economy and a greater push from local players, including Huawei, Xiaomi and newcomer Oppo.”

Canalys estimates, cellular smartwatch share by country, May 2020

For more information, please contact:

Canalys China
Cynthia Chen: cynthia_chen@canalys.com +86 158 2151 8439
Jason Low: jason_low@canalys.com +86 159 2128 2971

Canalys India
Madhumita Chaudhary: madhumita_chaudhary@canalys.com +91 77740 51094 
Rushabh Doshi: rushabh_doshi@canalys.com +91 99728 54174

Canalys Singapore
Shengtao Jin: shengtao_jin@canalys.com +65 6657 9303
Matthew Xie: matthew_xie@canalys.com +65 8319 8343

Canalys EMEA
Ben Stanton: ben_stanton@canalys.com +44 7824 114 350
Mo Jia: mo_jia@canalys.com +33 785 683 766

Canalys USA
Vincent Thielke: vincent_thielke@canalys.com +1 650 644 9970 
Marcy Ryan: marcy_ryan@canalys.com +1 650 862 4299

About Canalys

Canalys is an independent analyst company that strives to guide clients on the future of the technology industry and to think beyond the business models of the past. We deliver smart market insights to IT, channel and service provider professionals around the world. We stake our reputation on the quality of our data, our innovative use of technology and our high level of customer service.

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