Samsung's latest smartwatch shipments paint a sorry picture — while Apple looms

It’s no secret that the smartwatch market is dominated by the Apple Watch, with Samsung’s Galaxy Watch variants trailing in the US and globally. And it now looks like the situation has deteriorated even further for the South Korean manufacturer.

According to Counterpoint Research’s Q1 2026 global smartwatch shipment figures, Samsung’s performance continued to slide in the first three months of the year.

Apple saw a 21% increase in shipments in the quarter compared to the first three months of 2025, while Samsung saw its shipments fall by 28% over the same period. Overall, Q1 2026 witnessed a 4% surge in global smartwatch shipments compared to Q1 2025.

This paints a pretty bleak picture for Samsung’s smartwatch lineup. We suspect the Q2 2026 figures would be even more unflattering, given that the company is only expected to release the updated Galaxy Watch models next month, likely on July 22.

Apple’s dominance and Samsung’s poor showing aside, global smartwatch shipments were also boosted by Chinese brands like Huawei, followed by Imoo and Xiaomi, per the report.

The increased demand for “advanced” health-tracking features is cited as one of the reasons for Apple’s increased shipments during the quarter, while the affordable Apple Watch SE 3 also appears to have played its part.

Apple’s new smartwatches also have an edge in terms of network connectivity, with all 2025 models supporting 5G. By comparison, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 only supports 4G LTE.

While rumors suggest Samsung may equip the upcoming Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 with a 5G chip, it’s unclear whether this feature will also extend to the standard Galaxy Watch 9 models.

The Counterpoint report also reveals that the average selling price (ASP) of smartwatches increased by 6% in Q1 2026 compared to the same period last year. This is partly attributed to global consumers, especially in emerging markets, moving from basic fitness bands and trackers to smartwatches.

The inclusion of new health-tracking features and AI capabilities is said to be a significant contributor to the increase in the ASP of smartwatches.

It will be interesting to see the shipment figures for Q2 2026, which should be released in a month or two from now. As we touched on above, it’s unlikely to be particularly flattering, given that Samsung’s existing wearables have been on the market for nearly a year, and a refresh isn’t expected until Q3 (July).

The real test will be in the third and fourth quarters of 2026, by which time the upcoming Galaxy Watch models should have been on shelves for a couple of months.

Are you planning to pick up the Galaxy Watch 9 or Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 this summer? Let us know down in the comments.