Global smartphone shipments may not have been very impressive lately but the same cannot be said for smartwatches. The wearable market has been on the rise for a couple of years now and 2022 was no exception. According to Counterpoint Research, worldwide smartwatch shipments grew 12% YoY last year thanks to the solid YoY growth in the first three quarters of the year. The news is not all good as the shipments fell 2% YoY in Q4 due to inflationary pressures and slow growth in India.
According to the report, this was the first time the market witnessed negative growth since the pandemic hit the world in 2020. The most notable trend of the year was the polarization of demand based on price. Specifically, the shipments of smartwatches in the mid-price range declined, while there was a significant increase in the shipments of smartwatches in the price segments of over $400 and up to $100.
Indian smartwatch brands, particularly Noise and Fire Boltt grew significantly in the global market, surpassing 5% of the total market share to rank fourth and fifth, respectively. However, they were nowhere close to US behemoth Apple, which witnessed a 17% YoY increase in shipments as the Apple Watch Series 8, Ultra, and SE 2022 showed strong sales. In addition, the brand’s shipments increased by 50 million for the first time.
The report says Huawei‘s market share fell 1%p YoY because the Chinese smartwatch market lost momentum to India in 2022. But the brand’s revenue increased by 20% due to its relative focus on HLOS smartwatches. Counterpoint defines HLOS smartwatches as “electronic watches running a high-level OS, such as Watch OS (Apple) or Wear OS (Samsung), with the ability to install third-party apps”.
Analyst Woojin Son said, “Apple strongly drove the average selling price (ASP) rise in the global smartwatch market in 2022, especially in the >$400 price band. There are two main reasons for this ASP rise – a diversified Apple smartwatch line-up and a rise in the exchange rate”.
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