For the first time in recent history, Huawei managed to overcome Apple In global smartwatch shipments, a clear signal than the Chinese market is becoming increasingly decisive in the wearable devices sector. Shipping data mark a positive trend for most manufacturers, destined to rise further during the year.
According to the usual Counterpoint Research report relating to the second quarter of 2025, the world shipments of smartwatches increased by 8% compared to last year, interrupting a long continuous phase of decreased five consecutive quarters. Much of the merit is precisely of Huaweiwhich saw a Increase in shipments of 52%mainly pushed by the big question from China.
According to analysts, this positive trend recorded by Huawei It is given by a simple but effective strategy, which has seen the launch of a wide range of accessible models (between 100 and 400 dollars), with a strong integration between smartphones and IoT devices. With such a diversified wallet and a strong presence in the reference market, that is China, the brand was able to satisfy a huge slice of consumers.
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The smartwatch sector continues to record an uphill trend
Analyzing the data of the second quarter of 2025 it is evident that Apple is continuing to lose ground, recording a drop of 3% in shipments. This is the seventh consecutive quarter downward for the Cupertino company, which still manages to maintain domain in the premium sector of the market thanks to advanced health functionality and a loyal users’ base.
Going to look at the rest of the market we can see the exponential growth of Xiaomiwhich marks a 38% increase in shipments thanks to the cheapest models, while imoosmartwatch brand for children, marks an increase of 21%. To be left behind we find though Samsungwhich sees a slight 3% decrease due to the low attraction recorded by Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 compared to the offers of other producers.
According to the forecasts of Counterpoint Research, global smartwatch shipments should continue to grow in 2025 by about 3%. The absolute protagonist of this growth will continue to remain China, a market in which there is a large demand for wearable devices that combine functionality for health, payments and navigation.
