Global smartwatch shipments rose 35% YoY in Q1 2021; market leader Apple grew 50% YoY to raise its market share by 3 percentage points and Samsung grew 27% YoY
and Apple is in the lead Adrian Potoroaca / TechSpot : The smartwatch market is growing, Apple Watch still dominates Tweets: Sam Guichelaar / @samguichelaar : Honestly I'm surprised it's so small. I rarely see anyone wearing a smartwatch other than an Apple Watch. https://twitter.com/... @jonyiveparody : I'm so old that I can still remember when pundits said the Apple Watch would be a flop. @TheMacalope ☕️🐸 https://twitter.com/... Jitesh Ubrani / @jiteshubrani : Companies like @Apple @Samsung @Xiaomi always tend to lead the #wearables market but there's still plenty of growth coming from smaller vendors and newer form factors. https://www.idc.com/... https://twitter.com/... Counterpoint / @counterpointtr : The global smartwatch market grew 35% YoY in Q1 2021 in terms of shipments. @Apple drives market with 50%YoY growth followed by @Huawei with 8.4% market share Global #Smartwatch Shipments by Model Quarterly Tracker, Q1 2018-Q1 2021: https://report.counterpointresearch.com / ... #technews #technology https://twitter.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
The Q1 rebound follows a much slower 2020, when total smartwatch shipments grew only 1.5% even as Apple Watch shipments rose 19%. Apple had already led earlier growth cycles, including a 49% Apple Watch shipment increase in Q1 2019.
Apple’s faster Q1 growth widens its lead rather than merely tracking a market recovery. Samsung remains the nearest named challenger, but its 27% growth trails Apple’s 50% increase; later 2021 coverage records Samsung retaking second place after the Galaxy Watch 4 launch.
First-order effects
- Apple gains 3 percentage points of smartwatch market share in Q1, strengthening Apple Watch’s position as the category’s leading product line.
- Samsung’s shipments grow with the market, but its slower rate leaves it ceding relative share to Apple during the quarter.
Second-order effects
- Samsung faces greater pressure to use product launches to restore share, a response reflected in its later Galaxy Watch 4-driven move back to second place.
- Apple’s share gain raises the competitive bar for Huawei, Xiaomi, and other smartwatch sellers mentioned in the coverage: market expansion alone does not preserve their relative positions when the leader outgrows the category.
Third-order effects
- The category is becoming more concentrated around a leader able to convert broad shipment growth into additional share, while challengers’ position depends increasingly on distinct launch cycles.
- The contrast between 2020’s near-flat market and Q1’s 35% growth suggests smartwatch competition will be shaped by uneven recovery periods as well as underlying demand, with share shifting toward vendors that accelerate fastest in those windows.
The trend: Smartwatch growth is increasingly translating into share concentration for Apple, while Samsung’s competitive gains appear tied to product-cycle execution.