Global sales of smart watches and bracelets have almost stopped growing – new items do not offer anything new

The market for wrist wearable devices – smart bracelets, simple and more advanced smart watches – at the end of the third quarter of 2024 showed growth of a modest 3% compared to the same period in 2023. During the reporting period, 52.9 million devices were shipped, but distribution in this volume turned out to be difficult, Canalys analysts said.

Image source: mi.com

Smart bracelets showed the greatest positive dynamics – in this category there was an increase of 7% to 10.4 million units. The category has been in decline since Q3 2020, and this is now the first quarter to see growth. Analysts attributed the growth to high demand in emerging markets: consumers purchasing these devices for the first time made their choice due to the fact that the quality of the gadgets has increased. The most popular models in Latin America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East were Xiaomi Smart Band 9 and Samsung Galaxy Fit3.

Here and below image source: canalys.com

Xiaomi is doing well – its shipments in the wrist gadgets segment amounted to 8.5 million units, which corresponds to a market share of 16.1%; Apple supplied the same amount. In addition to the successful smart bracelet, the Redmi Watch 5 smart watch is popular; The volume of shipments of the Xiaomi Watch S model increased by 70%.

In terms of money, the distribution is strikingly different: Apple’s market share was 40%, Xiaomi’s – 4%, because the Chinese manufacturer’s range has shifted towards more affordable devices: the average selling price (ASP) decreased by 9% and reached its lowest value since the first quarter of 2021.

The mature North American market has proven problematic, with Apple’s demand declining and Fitbit’s market share shrinking. Owners of advanced smartwatches do not see the need to buy new models – new models now rarely offer any truly new and interesting functions. Canalys analysts recommended that manufacturers of such devices continue to invest in software and hardware: analytics systems based on machine learning, dual-processor architecture and advanced sleep tracking functions.