The smartwatch market is growing again, slowly. Worldwide wrist-worn device shipments reached 47.05 million units in the first quarter, up 2.2% from a year earlier, and smartwatches specifically totaled 37.03 million units, up 4.8%, according to IDC. The numbers, published this week, are the latest evidence that the category has found a second wind.
The gap between the two figures tells the story. The difference between total wrist-worn shipments and smartwatches is the wristband segment, the simpler fitness trackers that started the category a decade ago, and the math shows that segment is shrinking: smartwatches grew nearly five percent while the overall market grew just over two, which means the cheaper bands are giving up share with every quarter.
The driver is the feature race. Health sensors have moved from novelty to necessity, with sleep tracking, heart-rate monitoring and blood-oxygen readings now standard, and the industry’s moonshot, noninvasive glucose monitoring, is the feature every manufacturer is working toward. Each new sensor gives users a reason to replace a two-year-old watch.
The AI angle is new. Watch makers are shipping on-device assistants that summarize health data, coach workouts and draft replies to messages, and analysts said those features are driving upgrades among users who might otherwise have waited another year. A watch with an assistant is a different product than a watch with a step counter.
Apple remains the anchor of the category. Its Watch dominates the premium segment and sets the pace for features, and its newest models have pushed the health-tracking message harder than ever. But the growth is coming from elsewhere: Chinese brands including Huawei and Xiaomi have been gaining share with feature-rich watches at half the price, and the budget segment is where the volume is.
The price structure explains the regional split. In China and other Asian markets, watches priced between $100 and $300 are the growth engine, while in North America and Europe the premium segment above $400 holds steady. The middle, between $300 and $400, is the contested ground where Apple’s cheaper models meet the Chinese flagships.
The decline of the wristband is a strategic lesson for the industry. Simple trackers were the entry point for millions of users, and their shrinking share shows that the upgrade path is real: people who start with a band graduate to a watch, and the graduation is now happening faster than new users are arriving. The category is maturing, which is good news for average prices and bad news for volume.
The first quarter is the seasonally soft part of the year, and IDC’s numbers reflect the lull between holiday sales and the fall launch cycle. The second half is when the industry earns its year, with new models from Apple and its rivals expected to land before the holidays, and the launch calendar suggests the upgrade wave will be bigger than last year’s.
The enterprise angle is quietly growing. Companies are buying wearables for employee wellness programs, insurers are experimenting with device data in premium pricing, and medical researchers are using consumer watches in clinical studies at a scale that would have been impossible a few years ago. Those buyers care about accuracy and battery life more than fashion, and they are starting to move the numbers.
Competition is intensifying at the edge of the category. Phone makers without a watch ecosystem, and health companies without a device, are both trying to enter, and the success of the category has attracted the same pattern of copycat products that followed every other consumer electronics boom. The survivors will be the ones with sensors, software and distribution.
The industry’s own forecasters expect the growth to continue.
The numbers also carry a warning about pricing. Average selling prices have drifted up as premium models dominate, but unit growth is concentrated in the budget segment, which suggests the ceiling for average prices is closer than the headlines suggest. Manufacturers are running a two-track strategy: flagship watches that showcase sensors, and stripped-down models that chase volume. IDC has projected mid-single-digit growth for the full year, with the second half stronger than the first, and the smartwatch’s share of the wrist-worn market rising to roughly four-fifths by the end of the year. The numbers are modest by the standards of the category’s early years, but they are consistently positive.
For consumers, the takeaway is simpler.
The second half will test the category’s momentum. Apple’s fall launch, new models from Samsung and Google, and a wave of Chinese flagships are all expected before the holidays, and the full-year forecast depends on that upgrade cycle delivering. The first quarter’s numbers say the strategy is working; the second half will say how well. The watch on your wrist is becoming a health device with an assistant attached, and the upgrade cycle is being driven by sensors rather than style. The first quarter’s numbers say the strategy is working, and the second half will say how well.
