With the Apple Watch S8 likely to launch alongside the iPhone 14 lineup on September 7, it’s not surprising that shipments of the Series 7 have continued to decline as its replacement draws closer.
A new report today contained a mix of good and bad news for Apple …
Counterpoint Research released its latest estimates.
On the downside, Apple Watch shipments in Q2 didn’t keep up with the rate of growth seen in the smartwatch market as a whole. The total market grew 13%, while Apple Watch shipments grew by a more modest 8%.
Additionally, the Series 7 continued a decline first seen in Q1, with the balance of sales shifting in favor of older and cheaper models – including The Apple Watch Which Will Not Die.
On the plus side, Apple retained its dominance of the market, seeing just a tiny decline in its share. Apple’s share of the smartwatch market reduced from 30.6% in Q2 2021 to 29.3% in the same quarter this year. That still leaves Apple selling more than three times as many devices as its nearest competitor, Samsung.
Samsung did manage to take second place from Huawei, boosting its own share from 7.4% to 9.2%.
North America remained the biggest market for smartwatches, but India saw sufficiently dramatic growth to overtake China for second place. That was, however, due to an influx of extremely cheap and basic models.
A notable market for the quarter was India, which grew 347% YoY to overtake China for the second spot. During the quarter, 30% of models shipped in the Indian market sold for less than $50, and major local brands launched cost-effective models, lowering the entry barriers for consumers.
China, which ranked second in the previous quarter, was pushed down to third place with a 10% YoY decrease in its shipments as consumer demand contracted due to COVID-19 lockdowns and negative economic growth.
Europe, which ranked third in the previous quarter, was pushed down to fourth place with a 13% YoY decline against the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine war.
As for the Apple Watch Series 3, it does finally seem destined to be discontinued, as it won’t support watchOS 9.
Whether the Apple Watch S8 anticipation is justified remains to be seen. So far, we’re expecting no significant design changes, and a virtually unchanged processor. Most of the exciting sensor possibilities, like blood pressure and blood glucose measuring, are still believed to be some way off yet.
The only thing we might see this time is a temperature sensor geared primarily to fertility tracking, and better sleep-tracking performance – though this could also come to older models.
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