Global smartwatch shipments fell 4 percent in the second quarter of 2026, and the company sitting on top of the leaderboard is not the one most Americans would guess. Huawei posted a record share of about 22 percent, Apple shipped 14 percent more watches than a year earlier, and Xiaomi lost more than a third of its volume. The numbers come from Counterpoint Research’s latest Global Smartwatch Shipments Tracker, and together they show a market that is splitting in two.
One side is premium watches with serious health sensors, which are still growing. The other is cheap, basic watches, which people have largely stopped buying. If you are trying to work out which brands are healthy and which are coasting, this quarter is a useful snapshot.
Short answer
Counterpoint says worldwide smartwatch shipments dropped 4% year over year in Q2 2026, the first decline after twelve months of flat results. Huawei took first place with a record ~22% share, Apple climbed from 17.0% to 20.1% on 14% shipment growth, and Garmin grew 11% to a 5.6% share. Xiaomi fell from 9.5% to 6.1%. Analysts blame weak demand for entry-level watches and longer upgrade cycles.
The Q2 2026 Leaderboard at a Glance
Counterpoint tracks shipments, meaning watches sent to retailers and carriers, not watches sitting on wrists. That distinction matters, because a brand can ship plenty of units and still see them sit on shelves. Still, shipments are the best early read we get on where a market is heading, and this quarter’s read is unusually split.
| Brand | Q2 2026 share | Shipments vs. last year | What stands out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Huawei | ~22% (record) | +1% | Mainland China is about 80% of its volume |
| Apple | 20.1% (from 17.0%) | +14% | Series 11 and SE 3 made up over 80% of its shipments |
| imoo | 7.8% | -3% | Third place despite a small decline |
| Xiaomi | 6.1% (from 9.5%) | -38% | Steepest drop of any major brand |
| Garmin | 5.6% (from 4.9%) | +11% | Gained share while the market shrank |
Huawei Wins the Crown, but Almost Entirely at Home
Huawei’s 22 percent share is a record for the company, and it came with only a 1 percent rise in shipments. In other words, the market shrank around Huawei more than Huawei grew. What makes the lead less dramatic than it sounds is geography: roughly 80 percent of its shipments went to mainland China, where government subsidies helped sales and local brands like Huawei and imoo had a home advantage.
China as a whole accounted for a record 38 percent of global smartwatch shipments in the quarter, with shipments there growing 7 percent. North America grew too, by about 8 percent. For readers in the US, that is the key caveat. Huawei is the biggest smartwatch seller on Earth, yet it is barely a factor in North America, so the Apple and Garmin rows of the table matter more for American buyers than the first one.
Apple’s 14 Percent Jump Is the Real Headline
For a company that was supposedly stuck in a slow replacement cycle, Apple had the fastest growth among the top five vendors. Its share rose from 17.0 percent to 20.1 percent, and Counterpoint principal analyst Anshika Jain said the Apple Watch Series 11 and the Apple Watch SE 3 together accounted for more than 80 percent of its global shipments in the quarter.
That second detail is worth sitting on. The SE 3 is the cheap entry point and the Series 11 is the mainstream model, so Apple’s growth came from the middle and the bottom of its own lineup, not from the Ultra. A separate figure circulating in Apple coverage puts the company at 40.2 percent of the global market, up from 38.5 percent a year earlier, which appears to be a revenue-based share instead of a unit share. Both can be true at once: Apple ships about one in five watches but captures roughly two of every five dollars spent.
We covered the timing angle earlier this month, when Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 preorders opened into exactly this softening market. Q2 ended before the new models existed, so these numbers reflect the older lineup. Q3 and Q4 are the quarters that will show whether the Series 12 pushes Apple’s share higher still.
Why Xiaomi Fell Off a Cliff
A 38 percent drop in shipments is not a rounding error. Xiaomi’s share went from 9.5 percent to 6.1 percent in a year, the worst result among the major brands. The broader explanation from analysts is simple: demand for entry-level smartwatches with a limited sensor set has dried up. A basic watch that counts steps and shows notifications is now something a $50 band does, and shoppers who want more are stepping up to watches with real health tracking.
Xiaomi lives in exactly the part of the market that is shrinking. If you are shopping at the low end, that is good news in one way, because clearance pricing tends to follow weak demand. Our guide to the best budget smartwatches in 2026 covers which cheap models are still worth buying.
Garmin’s Quiet Gain
Garmin’s 5.6 percent share looks small next to Apple and Huawei, but shipments rose 11 percent and share climbed from 4.9 percent. Garmin sells the opposite of what is collapsing: expensive watches with deep training metrics, long battery life, and no mandatory subscription on most models. That last point is increasingly a selling point, and we looked at it in detail in our list of the best smartwatches with no subscription.
Read these numbers carefully
These are shipment figures from one research firm, relayed through press coverage. Other trackers such as IDC use different methods and can rank brands differently. Samsung and Google are not in the top five here, and their exact share was not part of the figures we could confirm, so we are not guessing at it.
What This Means If You Are Buying
- Shopping at the low end: a weak market usually means better deals. Expect discounts on basic watches through the holiday season.
- Buying premium: Apple and Garmin both gained share in a shrinking market, which is a good sign for continued software support and accessories.
- Holding an older watch: the report’s “longer replacement cycles” finding applies to you. Software support is the real expiry date, and we explained which models are running out in our piece on smartwatches losing software support.
- Considering a Huawei: great hardware, but US availability and app support are limited, so check the fine print before importing one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the number one smartwatch maker in 2026?
By shipments, Huawei led Q2 2026 with a record share of about 22 percent, according to Counterpoint Research. Apple was second at 20.1 percent and appears to lead in revenue terms.
Are smartwatch sales going down?
Global shipments fell 4 percent year over year in Q2 2026, the first decline after a year of flat results. Analysts point to weak demand for entry-level watches and longer replacement cycles, while Apple and Garmin grew.
Why did Apple Watch shipments grow 14 percent?
Counterpoint credits the Series 11 and the budget-friendly SE 3, which together made up more than 80 percent of Apple’s shipments in the quarter.
Is Huawei sold in the United States?
Not through mainstream US retailers. Roughly 80 percent of Huawei’s smartwatch volume goes to mainland China, which is why its global lead has little effect on the American market.
The Bottom Line
The smartwatch market did not collapse in Q2 2026, it sorted itself. Cheap watches are fading, premium watches with real health sensors are still finding buyers, and Huawei’s crown owes a lot to a very large home market. Apple’s 14 percent jump, produced before the Series 12 even shipped, is the number to watch heading into the holiday quarter. If the new lineup lands even half as well, the gap between premium and budget will only widen.
Sources and further reading
- Android Authority: Global smartwatch shipments fall 4% as users hold off on upgrades
- 9to5Mac: Apple Watch shipments rise 14% in Q2 as overall market drops
- Garmin Rumors: Counterpoint Q2 2026 smartwatch shipments
- Ubergizmo: Global smartwatch shipments drop 4% in Q2 2026 as Huawei takes lead
About this article: GeekBlog covers U.S. technology news, AI, phones, smartwatches and gaming. Every story is written and checked under our Editorial Policy. Spotted a mistake or have a story tip? Contact our editors.
