Global smartwatch sales falls for the first time

Smartwatch’s global sales have fallen for the first time, indicating new figures, in large parts, due to a sharp decline in the popularity of market leaders, Apple.

Market Research firm Counterpoint says that in 2024, 7% less devices were sent in 2024.

Counterpoint says that the shipment of Apple watches has declined by 19% over that period.

This blames the recession on the lack of new features in the latest devices of Apple, and the fact that a rumor high end ultra 3 model never became physical.

“The largest driver of the fall was North America, where the absence of Ultra 3 and the minimum feature upgrade in the S10 lineup led to consumers back shopping,” competition Senior Research Analyst Anushika Jain.

Apple was also killed at the end of 2023 and in early 2024 with sales and import ban in the US. Disputed patent Regarding monitoring blood oxygen level – which Ms. Jain says that contributed to low sales figures in the first half of 2024.

It retained 22% market share in the last three months of 2024, below 25% a year ago.

CCS Insight chief analyst Leo Gabi said, “We have gone through a period where the smartwatch has gone from being a new and exciting gadget, now there is something that is stabilizing -the feature set year -hand -saal is changing very dramatically.”

Despite the overall decline, there was a huge increase in sales for Chinese -made smartwatches from brands such as Xiaomi, Huawei and IMO last year.

Sales in China also increased from 19% of the market to 25% in the year from the last quarter of 2023.

According to Counterpoint, it was first recorded more smartwatch sales than India or North America.

Chinese manufacturers also appeared tapping in another trend – increasing popularity of smartwatches for children, the only section of the market to grow in 2024.

Emu, known as “Little Genius” in China, specializes in children’s smart watches and saw an increase of 22% in shipment.

Balbir Singh of Counterpoint said, “Children’s smart watch segment is receiving traction because parents are worried about their children’s safety, and they wish to stay and live constantly with their children.”

But IMOO was assumed by 135% increase in shipment from Beijing -based tech company Xiaomi.

Its smart band activity trackers sell for a fraction of the price of rivals made by Apple and Samsung.

“We are looking at big consumer electronics players such as Apple and Samsung, in fact just a way to run high margin and not engage in the price war,” said Mr. Gabi.

“Xiaomi has done a really good job of selling equipment, especially in areas such as southern and eastern Europe where more and more ability resides with customers.”

India was another major contribution to the global sales drop, which fell from 30% of the market to 23%.

He said that it was partly due to a “bubble” in ultra-cheap devices of Indian manufacturers that are now exploded.

He said, “We saw and seen a lot in the context of complaints about the quality of equipment, in which people are unhappy with him,” he said.

“For those companies, there is a feeling that this point will be given better service from making and selling products with better lifetime later.”

Counterpoint says that it expects a small recovery in the global market, with “the percentage of single-ankles in 2025”.

It predicts that the uttic in sales will be operated by increasing AI features, and a large emphasis will be given to provide a wide range of health data.