The Apple Watch essentially launched the smartwatch category, and continues to dominate it. And rather than competitors catching up, Apple’s share of this market in increasing. It took in 51.4% of the worldwide revenue from shipments of smartwatches during the first half of 2020, a significant rise from the same period last year.
Apple Watch Series 5 rakes in revenue
Apple’s wrist wearable brought in 43.2% of the global smartwatch revenue in H1 2019, according to Counterpoint Research. “Apple continued to dominate the smartwatch market both in volume and value,” said a senior analyst with this research firm, Sujeong Lim. “Apple captured a record half of the market in terms of revenue due to strong demand for the Apple Watch S5 models.”
Apple Watch Series 5 is the latest model, and starts at $399. Robust sales would certainly contribute to significant revenue.
But Counterpoint has to estimate the amount brought in from the Apple Watch, as Apple doesn’t break this figure out from its other wearables (like AirPods) in its financial reports. Cupertino says it brought in $6.45 billion last quarter for this entire category, and $6.28 billion in the first quarter of 2020. “Our wearables business is now the size of a Fortune 140 company,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s Chief Financial Officer.
And Apple wasn’t up just in revenue. “In terms of shipment volumes, Apple Watch grew 22% globally, with Europe and North America being the fastest growing markets in the first half of 2020,” noted Lim.
Sales of Huawei and Garmin smartwatches are up
Sales of smartwatches grew in the first half of 2020, despite the coronavirus crisis. “Close to 42 million smartwatches were shipped in the first half of 2020 as wearables continue to see greater demand with consumers becoming more health conscious,” said Lim.
A distant second behind Apple in revenue from this type of wearable is Garmin with 9.4% of the global market in H1 2020, according to Counterpoint. Its Forerunner and Fenix line sell well in the sports enthusiast and athlete markets, up 31% year over year.
In third place is Huawei with 8.3% of the market. It grew 57% YoY, with sales especially strong in its home market China and other Asian markets.
Samsung, which was in second place in smartwatch revenue in H1 2019, dropped to fourth place this year. It brought in 7.2% of global revenue.
Source: Counterpoint Research
