The successful launch of Samsung’s new smartwatch “Galaxy Watch 4” caused the company to significantly increase its market share by the third quarter of 2021, thus narrowing the gap with Apple.
In the third quarter of this year, global smartwatch shipments increased 16% compared to the same period last year; while the Cupertino company’s market share fell 10%, according to Counterpoint Research.
The fall of Apple in the market
Apple’s fall in the market could be related to the delay in the launch of the “Watch Series 7”, which pushed sales until the fourth quarter.
During that time, Samsung managed to reach its highest number of quarterly smartwatch shipments, thus regaining second place in the market. In this way, Huawei was placed in third place.
Notably, more than 60% of Samsung’s total shipments were made in North America and Europe, where the proportion of models in the mid-to-high price range is high.
Quarterly Shipment Growth for Samsung
Tech market research company Counterpoint sees this increase in Samsung’s quarterly shipments as closely related to expanding its app ecosystem using Android-based “Wear OS” instead of its Tizen. In addition to presenting a wider range of models and features that were well received by users.
Also, Google saw good growth in the market for wearable operating systems at the time that Samsung started using “Wear OS” with the new Galaxy Watch 4.
“This year’s partnership with Samsung has gained a foothold for Google to expand its presence in the portable operating system market and appears poised to transform into a more open portable platform from now on.”
Sujeong Lim, Senior Analyst at Counterpoint Research
“Wear OS” has been making comparatively large gains in the operating system market; while «Watch OS» has registered a progressive decrease, in terms of participation, reaching 22%.
This impact on the market by Samsung’s new “Galaxy Watch 4” is most likely short-lived, but the Korean company is expected to rebound in the market in the long term.
“To further increase its market share, Samsung is expected to launch affordable models within 2-3 years to target the fast-growing Asian market.”
Sujeong Lim, Senior Analyst at Counterpoint Research