Global smartwatch shipments rose 35% YoY in Q1 2021; market leader Apple grew 50% YoY to increase its market share by 3% points while Samsung grew 27% YoY
- Apple registers a healthy 50% annual growth, capturing a third of the smartwatch market in terms of volumes.
Context & Ripple Effects
Smartwatch growth had slowed sharply before this quarter: the category rose 20% in Q1 2020, while full-year 2020 growth was only 1.5%, despite Apple Watch growth. The current rebound therefore marks a return to much faster category expansion, with Apple outpacing that recovery.
Apple had also led the category in the prior Q1 comparisons, including a 35.8% share in Q1 2019 and a reported 55% share in Q1 2020. Its faster Q1 2021 growth reinforces that lead while Samsung expands at a slower rate than the overall market.
First-order effects
- Apple increases its share of smartwatch volumes by 3 percentage points to roughly one-third, strengthening its position during the category's Q1 rebound.
- Samsung's 27% shipment growth adds volume but trails the 35% market expansion, leaving it unable to match Apple's relative momentum in the quarter.
Second-order effects
- Samsung faces greater pressure to translate product launches into share gains; later coverage shows the Galaxy Watch 4-driven rise to 17% share was sufficient to retake second place in Q3.
- The gap between Apple's growth and Samsung's makes market-share performance—not shipment growth alone—the more consequential competitive measure for the two vendors.
Third-order effects
- The related quarterly data indicate a smartwatch market with durable Apple leadership but contestable positions beneath it: Samsung's later Q3 recovery contrasts with Apple's Q1 share gain.
- If this cadence persists, vendor rankings will increasingly turn on launch-timed share shifts within a growing category rather than on a single annual shipment-growth figure.
The trend: Smartwatch competition is evolving into a share battle within an unevenly growing market, with Apple extending its lead while Samsung uses product cycles to defend its position.