This photo provided by Samsung Electronics Co. on Jan. 27, 2021, shows the company’s Galaxy Watch 3 smartwatches.
SEOUL, Aug. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — Samsung Electronics Co. was the world’s third-largest smartwatch vendor in the second quarter of the year, a report showed Thursday, after its shipments posted robust 43 percent on-year growth.
The South Korean tech giant logged a market share of 7.6 percent in the April-June period, up from 6.8 percent a year earlier, and edged China’s BBK Electronics Corp. for third place, according to market researcher Counterpoint Research.
“Thanks to the steady popularity of the Galaxy Watch 3 and Watch Active 2, Samsung showed a quick recovery from last year’s somewhat sluggish performance,” said Lim Su-jeong, a senior analyst at Counterpoint Research.
Apple Inc. maintained its lead in the second quarter, but its market share declined to 28 percent from 30.1 percent a year earlier due to intensifying competition with Chinese and Indian brands.
“Apple Watch’s user base crossed the 100-million mark for the first time during the quarter ended June, capturing the lion’s share of the smartwatch user base globally,” Lim said.
“The U.S. continues to be the key Apple Watch market, contributing to more than half of its user base, with an attach rate of close to 30 percent.”
Huawei Technologies Co. maintained its runner-up spot, but its market share fell sharply to 9.3 percent from 13.1 percent. The Chinese tech firm was the only one among the top five brands to see a decline in smartwatch shipments.
“The decline in its smartphone business seems to have affected its smartwatch sales as the smartwatch from such a vertical player is tightly optimized with the brand’s smartphones and the users’ loyalty to the brand’s ecosystem of offerings,” Lim said.
In the second quarter, global smartwatch shipments posted a 27 percent on-year growth on the back of strong demand of sub-$100 smartwatches. The segment grew a whopping 547 percent annually.
Three of the top five best-selling smartwatches in the second quarter were from Apple, with the Apple Watch Series 6 taking the top position, followed by the Apple Watch Series SE and Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2.
(Yonhap)
