According to the latest figures from market research firm Canalys, worldwide shipments of smartwatches grew by 12% year-on-year in Q1 2020 despite the COVID-19 crisis, reaching 14.3 million units.
While Apple remains the top smartwatch vendor in the world, its smartwatch shipments fell by 13% in the first quarter of the year, bucking the overall trend of growth. Nevertheless, WatchOS still gained 4 million new active users in Q1, bringing the total installed base to roughly 70 million.
Huawei recorded the most significant year-on-year growth in Q1 2020, rising by 113% to ship 2.1 million smartwatches. The brand now accounts for 14.9% of global market share.
Samsung was third, accounting for 12.4% of the market and shipping 1.8 million smartwatches. This represents year-on-year growth of 46%.
In Q1 Garmin recorded year-on-year growth of 39%, while Fitbit fell by 21%.
For the first time ever, North American shipments accounted for less than one third of the global total. Smartwatch shipments in China grew by 66%, rivalling North American shipments.
By end-2020, Canalys estimates that there will be more than 150 million global smartwatch users.
