Deliveries of smartwatches increased by 24 percent last year

The number of smartwatches delivered rose by 24 percent in 2021. That’s what Counterpoint Research says. A record number of wearables were delivered in the fourth quarter. Samsung, Garmin and Amazfit experienced above-average growth in 2021.

Analyst firm Counterpoint Research writes that Apple maintained its position as market leader in 2021. The tech giant has a market share of 30.1 percent with its Apple Watch. That is a slight decrease compared to 2020, when the manufacturer controlled 32.9 percent of the market. Samsung deliveries, on the other hand, rose sharply in 2021, increasing that company’s market share from 8.9 to 10.2 percent. This puts the company in second place, ahead of Huawei. That Chinese manufacturer previously had a market share of 10.7 percent, but Huawei’s share fell to 7.7 percent in 2021.

Garmin also supplied a relatively large number of smartwatches last year and had a market share of 2.6 percent in 2021. The company has caught up with Fitbit with this. Fitbit would have had a relatively weak year in 2021, Counterpoint writes. The company’s deliveries are said to have fallen by 15 percent compared to 2020. Chinese brand Amazfit, on the other hand, delivered 20 percent more wearables in the past year, bringing that manufacturer’s market share to 5.1 percent.

Smartwatch market growth driven by India

According to Counterpoint Research, India has been one of the major drivers behind the growth of the global smartwatch market, partly due to the emergence of local brands such as Noise. In 2020, that country accounted for 3 percent of the number of wearables delivered, but last year that would have increased to almost ten percent. Counterpoint writes that this amounts to a good percentage of 274 percent.

In North America, shipments increased by 14 percent, making that region good for 30 percent of the wearable market. Shipments in China increased by 10 percent. The number of deliveries to the rest of the world has also risen sharply and now stands at 37 percent of the total.

Source: Counterpoint Research