Counterpoint: China's smartwatch shipments fell 28% year-on-year in Q1 2023

In the first full quarter after China reopened, the Chinese smartwatch market did not fully recover. Smartwatch shipments fell 28% year-on-year and 16% quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter of 2023, reaching the lowest level in 12 quarters.

The top three brands are Huawei, Apple and BBK. In the first quarter of 2023, these brands accounted for nearly 60% of the Chinese smartwatch market. Among all types of smartwatches, HLOS (HLOS smartwatch: an electronic watch running a high-level operating system that can install third-party applications) shipments fell the least year-on-year, with its market share rising from 39% in the first quarter of 2022 to 45%. At the same time, China's "children's smartwatch" shipments fell 31% year-on-year. China is the world's largest children's smartwatch market.

Market Summary

Huawei was the biggest winner in China's smartwatch market, with a 27% market share, thanks to its diversification strategy. Although the brand's total shipments fell 15% year-on-year, it ranked first in the price range from $101 to $400. The Huawei Watch GT 3 was the second best-selling model in the first quarter of 2023.

Apple was the second largest brand, driven primarily by the Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch SE 2022. These two models were the first and third best-selling models in the first quarter of 2023, respectively. However, Apple's shipments fell 27% year-on-year due to shrinking demand. The focus on HLOS smartwatches helped the brand capture 87% of the $400+ market.

BBK's first quarter shipments were generally flat year-on-year, thanks to the back-to-school season. The brand benefited from its multi-model strategy, with the Z6A series contributing the most to shipments.

Xiaomi's shipments fell 42% year-on-year but grew 31% quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter of 2023. The brand ranked first in the sub-US$50 segment.

OPPO was the only brand to see both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter growth in shipments. This performance was driven by the OPPO Watch 3 and OPPO Watch 3 Pro. OPPO’s market share increased to 4% in the first quarter.

Qihoo 360's revenue fell 35% year-on-year. The company has fewer models on sale compared to the first quarter of 2022.

Amazfit has a variety of models in China, but lags behind in terms of popular models. The brand's shipments fell 34% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023.