A new survey of the global smartwatch for market by Counter Research revealed that the Apple Watch dominated the market with a 36% share in Q1, 2022. The smartphone market also recorded a 13% Y-o-Y increase in spite of economic slowdown and inflation concerns.
Due to the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the smartwatch market suffered greatly. However, the situation improved in 2021 with 24% Y-o-Y growth and Apple Watch was in the lead with a 30% share. The positive trend has continued in 2022 as well.
Innovative features and high brand loyalty have made Apple Watch an “irreplaceable market leader”
In 2021, the tech giant launched Apple Watch Series 7 with larger displays, faster charging, new color options, and more importantly, new workouts for Fitness+, sleep tracker, Focus, QWERTY keyboard, and other improvements.
The new research accredits the success of the Apple Watch to its high popularity amongst the youth, innovative features, and high brand loyalty. Associate Director Sujeong Lim said:
“Although the global smartwatch market saw little growth in 2020 due to the impact of Covid-19, it has continued to perform well since its rebound last year. In particular, Apple accounted for more than a third of the total shipments last year, and it is further increasing its influence with a market share of 36% in the first quarter of this year.
The high brand loyalty of iPhone users is one of the success factors of the Apple Watch. This popularity appears to be higher among the younger generation, making Apple an irreplaceable market leader. Of course, everything was possible because the high performance of the product and the excellent connection among supported iOS devices. We believe that Apple’s market share is likely to rise further by the end of this year.”
It is also reported that Samsung secured the second position with 46% Y-o-Y growth owed to the popularity of the Galaxy Watch 4 series. And for the first time, Xiaomi recorded the top 4th position with 69% Y-o-Y growth because of high demand for its low-end smartwatch models under $100.
