This photo provided by Samsung Electronics Co. on Aug. 5, 2020, shows the company’s Galaxy Watch3 smartwatch.
SEOUL, Dec. 10 (Korea Bizwire) – Samsung Electronics Co. moved up to the third spot in the global smartwatch market in the third quarter of the year thanks to brisk sales of the Galaxy Watch3, a report showed Thursday.
Samsung accounted for 10 percent of the global smartwatch shipments in the July-September period, up 2 percentage points from a year earlier, and surpassed China’s BBK Electronics Corp., which settled for a 7 percent share, to take the third position in the market, according to industry tracker Counterpoint Research.
“Since (Samsung) appeals to fewer premium consumers compared to Apple, demand from its base was weaker during the pandemic,” said Lim Su-jeong, a senior analyst at Counterpoint Research.
“But it rebounded in the third quarter with the launch of the Galaxy Watch3. In terms of revenues, Samsung grew 59 percent year-on-year and is expecting good growth momentum now.”
The Galaxy Watch3, which has a rotating control bezel, was launched in August.
Apple Inc. defended its top position in the third quarter with a market share of 28 percent, up 2 percentage points from a year earlier. During the third quarter, the U.S. tech titan launched its first mid-tier smartwatch, the Apple Watch SE.
“In terms of sales, Apple’s position is even stronger,” Lim added. “In the third quarter, it achieved $2.3 billion, nearly half of global smartwatch shipments and an 18 percent increase over the same period last year.”
China’s Huawei Technologies Co. was the runner-up in the third-quarter smartwatch market after its share increased to 15 percent from 10 percent a year earlier.
The global smartwatch shipments increased 6 percent on-year in the third quarter of the year, with the release of new models, Counterpoint Research said.
China became the largest market after edging out North America. The Asian nation accounted for 30.2 percent of the global smartwatch shipments in the third quarter, slightly outnumbering North America’s 29.9 percent.
(Yonhap)
