Apple Watch slips to second place in global smartwatch shipments as this Chinese giant dominates most of 2024: Report

Apple has dominated the smartphone segment ever since the first Apple Watch was launched. The category has boomed, and Apple Watch shipments have soared over the years. That being said, of late, things have been different. Can we say the past few Apple Watches have been more or less the same? It was said that things would change with the Apple Watch Series 10. However, the watch ended up being quite similar to the Series 9, despite offering a thinner, larger design. And yes, the Apple Watch Ultra has shaken things up in the premium smartwatch category, but the product is expensive. What’s the result? Well, Apple's market share, as noted by IDC, has slipped. Apple has been overtaken by Chinese giant Huawei in terms of total shipments of wrist-worn devices shipped in the first nine months of 2024.

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Here’s what the IDC report says

Huawei has taken the lead when it comes to shipment volume of wrist-worn devices with a total of 23.6 million devices shipped between Q1-Q3 2024. For contrast, Apple shipped a total of 22.5 million devices. Also, Huawei's market share was noted as 16.3%, compared to Apple’s 16.2%. Apple shipped 22.5 million wrist-worn devices during this period, leading to a drop in its year-over-year growth rate, which now stands at minus 12.8%. 

Apple is followed by Xiaomi with 20.5 million shipments, Samsung with 11.5 million shipments, and BBK with 7.8 million shipments.

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What contributed to Huawei’s growth

As IDC notes, Huawei ranked first in cumulative shipments in the global wrist-worn market. This is largely attributed to the brand’s new devices, such as the GT5, the GT5 Pro, and the second-generation blood pressure monitor, the Watch D2. Compared to Apple, Huawei’s efforts with these devices helped the company get the top spot in the first nine months. 

So, all in all, Apple has big things to plan when it comes to its smartwatches. Perhaps, the upcoming Apple Watch Ultra 3 and the Apple Watch Series 11 will shake things up for the giant.