The sales of smartwatches around the world went down for the first time. This was mainly because fewer people bought Apple watches. A research firm called Counterpoint reported that 7% fewer smartwatches were sold in 2024 compared to the year before. Apple’s sales dropped by 19% during that time because their new watches didn’t have many new features and a rumored fancy model didn’t come out.

In the United States, Apple had some trouble with sales and imports because of a dispute over a special feature in their watches. Because of this, their market share went down from 25% to 22%.

However, smartwatches made in China, like Xiaomi and Huawei, did really well in sales last year. More people in China bought smartwatches, especially for their kids. Kids’ smartwatches are becoming more popular because parents want to keep track of their children. Xiaomi’s affordable smart bands were a big hit compared to more expensive brands like Apple and Samsung.

Even though overall smartwatch sales went down, Counterpoint expects a small increase in sales in 2025 because of new AI features and better health data capabilities.