GoKawiilJoe Maring / Android Authority
TL;DR Smartwatch shipment figures from Q1 2026 show a big drop for Samsung.
By contrast, Apple continues to enjoy a healthy chunk of the smartwatch shipments pie.
Chinese brands like Huawei also contributed to the global increase in smartwatch shipments.
It’s no secret that the smartwatch market is dominated by the Apple Watch, with Samsung’s Galaxy Watch variants trailing in the US and globally. And it now looks like the situation has deteriorated even further for the South Korean manufacturer.
According to Counterpoint Research’s Q1 2026 global smartwatch shipment figures, Samsung’s performance continued to slide in the first three months of the year.
Apple saw a 21% increase in shipments in the quarter compared to the first three months of 2025, while Samsung saw its shipments fall by 28% over the same period. Overall, Q1 2026 witnessed a 4% surge in global smartwatch shipments compared to Q1 2025.
This paints a pretty bleak picture for Samsung’s smartwatch lineup. We suspect the Q2 2026 figures would be even more unflattering, given that the company is only expected to release the updated Galaxy Watch models next month, likely on July 22.
Apple’s dominance and Samsung’s poor showing aside, global smartwatch shipments were also boosted by Chinese brands like Huawei, followed by Imoo and Xiaomi, per the report.
The increased demand for “advanced” health-tracking features is cited as one of the reasons for Apple’s increased shipments during the quarter, while the affordable Apple Watch SE 3 also appears to have played its part.
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