GoKawiilRyan Haines / Android Authority
TL;DR Wearable shipments fell 2% year over year in Q2 2026, and consumers are increasingly choosing between premium sports watches and screenless trackers.
Garmin gained major smartwatch market share, while Samsung and Apple both lost ground year over year.
Screenless trackers are gaining momentum as consumers look for wearables that track their health without constant notifications and distractions.
Over the past several years, the wearable market has grown to be diverse and full of different options, and that might just be making consumers a lot more selective. Research firm Omdia has just published preliminary sales figures for the second quarter of 2026, and in addition to highlighting a decline in year-over-year shipments, it also spotlights a growing divide.
Overall wrist-based wearable shipments fell by 2% compared to the second quarter of 2025, but that decline doesn’t paint the full picture. The consumer market also seems to be split between two very different types of wearable bands: screenless trackers and the more sophisticated “feature-rich sports watches” from the likes of Garmin.
While screenless trackers gain ground, and the more advanced smartwatches maintain their popularity, basic and mid-tier smartwatches “are being left behind,” according to Jason Low, Research Director at Omdia. So it’s either a top-of-the-line, feature-rich experience on the wrist, or one that doesn’t bother you every time you get a social media update.
Omdia
Garmin’s growth in the premium, feature-rich wearable category reveals consumers ready to spend more on devices that offer “accurate, advanced training data and translate it into actionable insights.” The data shows that Garmin now commands 15% of smartwatch market share, up from 11% year over year.
On the other end, screenless trackers accounted for more than 15% of shipments in the basic band category during the quarter. That’s impressive, especially considering that the category declined by 9% year over year.
... continue reading