Galaxy smartwatch shipments hold second place globally as we await new Fitbit watches

What you need to know

• The latest trends for smartwatch market share have been released for Q1 2022, with a 13% increase in yearly smartwatch sales.
• Samsung has maintained its second-place hold, with a 16% increase year-over-year.
• Xiaomi continues to break records each quarter, rising to the top 4 for the first time.
• Fitbir has continued to fall over several quarters as we wait for new Sense or Versa smartwatches.

Smartwatch sales continue to grow, according to the latest market share numbers from Counterpoint Research. However, that growth comes at a slower pace in the first quarter of 2022 as Fitbit wavers and Galaxy smartwatches maintain a lead over most other OEMs besides Apple.

The latest report from Counterpoint shows that despite not matching the Q4 record high, the smartwatch market has grown as a whole by 13% year-over-year as wearables become increasingly popular. Leading the charge, of course, is Apple, which grew slightly to 36%. Following not-so-closely is Samsung with 10% share and Huawei with 7.2%.

Samsung has managed to hold onto the second place spot since Q3 2022 following the launch of the Galaxy Watch 4, displaying a 46% YoY growth in shipments. This has also propelled Wear OS's market share, which will undoubtedly be assisted by the launch of newer devices and updates later this year. However, Xiaomi could threaten to overtake Samsung, having entered a top 4 position for the first time and "breaking its shipment record every quarter."

Garmin and Huami's Amazfit have managed to hold onto market share between 4% and 5%, while Fitbit is considerably low at 2.7% share. This is likely due to the lack of a traditional smartwatch successor, with the Google-owned company instead focusing on its fitness trackers. We expect Fitbit Sense 2 and Versa 4 to finally launch sometime this year, but they will likely arrive without Wear OS.

The biggest smartwatch launches aren't expected to happen until Q3 of this year, including the next Apple Watch and successors to some of the best Android smartwatches. Google has already teased its own Pixel Watch alongside plenty of Wear OS partners expected to launch devices later this year, which should help give both Wear OS and smartphone sales a healthy boost.