Each day, ETX Studio puts the spotlight on a number that stands out for making headlines in one way or another. Today it's the number of first-quarter smartwatch sales for Huawei, 2.6 million, doubled over the last year. Apple still accounts for one in four smartwatches sold worldwide, but Huawei is increasingly a real challenger, having doubled sales over the last year to 2.6 million units. With a total of 16.9 million units from all brands sold worldwide in the first quarter of 2020, which is nonetheless down 7.1% on last year, the Chinese company is fast gaining ground in the smartwatch market, reports research agency IDC.
In the first quarter of 2020, Apple sold 4.5 million smartwatches, an annual figure that is relatively stable but a bit down on the previous year (-2.2%), although some of that decline is due to coronavirus pandemic. But hot on the heels of the US giant, a major player has emerged: Chinese manufacturer Huawei. The consumer electronics multinational has doubled its sales over a year (up by 118.5%), which went from 1.2 to 2.6 million units sold for a market share of 15.2%, as opposed to 26.8% for Apple. In terms of rankings, Huawei is followed by Samsung (1.8 million watches sold and 10.8% market share), Garmin (1.3 million and 7.5%) and Huami (1 million and 5.8%).
The overall wearables market is still dominated by Apple with a market share of 29.3%, far ahead of Xiaomi (14%) and Samsung (11,9%), with Huawei behind in fourth place (11.1%).
Meanwhile, in the first quarter of 2020, the overall wearables market saw an increase in sales of 29.7%.
