Gap with Apple Watch Still Wide
Samsung Electronics ranked second in the global smart watch market in the first quarter of this year on the back of a 127 percent surge in sales of the Galaxy Watch.
Samsung Electronics accounted for 11.1 percent of the smart watch market in the first quarter, up from 7.2 percent a year earlier, said Counterpoint Research, a global market research firm, on May 7.
"Improved battery life and classic circular watch design contributed to the rise in the market share of the Samsung Galaxy Watch series," said Lim Su-jeong, a researcher at Counerpoint Research. "Consumers chose Samsung smart watches as a good substitute for the Apple Watch."
The Apple Watch took first place with a 35.8 percent share. Despite the drop in demand for the iPhone, the Apple Watch posted a year-on-year increase of 49 percent in sales volume. Consumers favored the Apple Watch's electrocardiogram measurement function, Counterpoint Research said. Electrocardiogram measurement is a new feature of the Apple Watch 4 that can detect atrial fibrillation and abnormal heart rhythms among others.
Huawei’s smart watch sales remained sluggish until last year but its latest smart watch GT gained popularity, boosting its market share to 2.8 percent.