Samsung’s Galaxy Watch series has a decent slice of the overall smartphone market, but it’s off to a rough start for 2026.
A new report from Counterpoint Research spells out a bleak picture for Samsung’s 2026, at least in the smartwatch market. While the overall global smartwatch market grew by 4% year-over-year in Q1 2026, that’s not at all representative of what happened for Galaxy Watch.
The report found that Galaxy Watch series shipments dropped by 28% YoY in Q1 2026, pushing Samsung’s market share down from 7% in Q1 2025 to just 5% in Q1 2026.
And that’s while basically everyone else saw gains. Apple Watch shipments grew by 21% as attributed to growth in China and Europe and the Watch SE 3, Huawei by 12%, Xiaomi by 9%, and imoo – a brand making children’s smartwatches – by 2%. The “Others” category also dropped by 3%, which includes brands such as Google’s Pixel Watch.
Samsung is set to launch its next Galaxy Watch series, the Galaxy Watch 9, in July alongside its new foldables. But, clearly, it’s an uphill battle.
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