Apple is NOT the world's top smartwatch vendor, but it's getting there
The latest smartwatch market report put together by Counterpoint Research contradicts Omdia's findings from last month, ranking Huawei as the number one vendor instead of Apple.
If you've been wondering just how popular wearable devices like the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch SE 3 have proven since their commercial debut last fall, the answer appears to be extremely popular... yet not popular enough to make their manufacturer the global leader of smartwatch shipments between April and June 2026.
Huawei is the Q2 2026 champion after all... probably
How do you go from that aforementioned 46 percent market share last month to only 20.1 percent today... for the same timeframe and (theoretically) the same industry? I'm not entirely sure, but it might have a little something to do with the different definitions of the word "smartwatch" for the two aforementioned analytics firms and possibly their slightly different methods of estimating numbers that device makers themselves rarely confirm or deny.
This latest report puts Huawei narrowly ahead of Apple and Garmin in fifth place. | Image by Counterpoint Research
It's just as important to point out that Omdia actually compiled two distinct Q2 2026 hierarchies, ranking Huawei in first place and Apple in third as far as "wearable band" shipments were concerned. I don't know about you, but that makes it even harder for me to understand and explain these reports, so instead of that, let's just accept the fact that Huawei is doing very well in the global smartwatch landscape... and so is Apple.
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After all, Apple can't be dissatisfied with the results put together by Counterpoint Research either, as these suggest the gap between gold medalist Huawei and the Cupertino-based runner-up is shrinking.
Will Apple take this crown too in Q3?
That's obviously impossible to know for sure, especially before the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 are likely unveiled tomorrow, but the latest market trends are certainly suggesting a leader change is imminent and unavoidable.
Does Apple deserve to be the world's top smartwatch vendor?
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While Apple has been the biggest gainer among the top five brands between Q2 2025 and Q2 2026, boosting its shipments by 14 percent on the back of particularly strong global demand for the Series 11 and SE 3, Huawei barely managed to improve its own numbers by a microscopic 1 percent.
The distance between the top two vendors now stands at 1.7 percent share (down significantly from 3.8 percent this time last year), and if Huawei somehow miraculously manages to hold on to its heavyweight title in Q3 2026 (which I doubt), that's likely to change during the final three months of the year (at the latest).
If you want to read more about wearables and smartwatches, here you go:
First of all, what other big dogs are we talking about? Samsung? The company is unfortunately barely a pussycat in today's global smartwatch market, failing to make the top five as the much lesser-known Imoo completes the podium... well behind the gold and silver medalists.
It's hard to compete with Apple when its cheapest current-gen smartwatch looks like this. | Image by PhoneArena
Xiaomi and Garmin's numbers are also not very impressive, but while the former China-based outfit is down no less than 38 percent from its Q2 2025 shipments, the latter American company manages to jump 11 percent and cross the 5 percent share milestone, showing great promise for further improvement down the line (just as Omdia's report from last month also suggested).
The market as a whole, meanwhile, is not showing signs of big progress on the horizon, having declined by 4 percent in the April-June 2026 window compared to the same quarter of last year and being predicted to post overall growth of just 1 percent for the entire year. Global shipments are then expected to surge a little higher through 2030 thanks to various recent and future breakthroughs like AI, blood pressure tracking, and non-invasive blood glucose monitoring.
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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