The throne of the smartwatch market has changed hands for the first time.
According to the latest report from market research firm Counterpoint Research, in the second quarter of 2025, Huawei’s global smartwatch shipments increased by 52% year-on-year, surpassing Apple for the first time with a market share of 21%. Huawei has become the global leader.
Apple, on the other hand, has fallen to second place with a 17% share, ending nearly seven years of dominance.
This is a landmark moment.
Since Apple topped the smartwatch market in 2018, no brand has been able to shake its leadership position.
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Huawei’s rise to the top is particularly significant.
Unlike Apple, which can freely sell in the global market, most of Huawei’s smartwatch sales come from the Chinese market. This means that Huawei has surpassed the global giant Apple by leveraging the influence of a single market.
What has enabled Huawei to rise against the trend?
Analysis shows that a complete product line layout is key to its success. Huawei’s smartwatches have formed a clear pyramid structure:
High-end flagship models are priced between 2699 yuan and 23999 yuan, equipped with bidirectional Beidou satellite messaging, 100-meter free diving certification, and other professional features;
The mid-range market is dominated by the WATCH GT and FIT series, priced between 699 yuan and 2488 yuan, attracting a large number of young consumers;
Entry-level products cover price ranges from 209 yuan to 999 yuan, further penetrating the market through bands and children’s watches.
This strategy of covering all consumer levels stands in stark contrast to Apple. Although the Apple Watch covers a price range of 1999 yuan to 6799 yuan, its product structure is relatively singular, with only three series: Series, SE, and Ultra.
In today’s increasingly diverse consumer demand, Huawei’s diversified strategy is clearly more competitive.
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Another factor that cannot be ignored is channel layout.
Huawei has expanded its offline store count to over 30,000 through its “Thousand Counties, Ten Thousand Stores” plan, reaching third- and fourth-tier cities that Apple has yet to touch.
As of the second quarter of this year, Huawei has established over 62,000 stores and counters globally, covering more than 170 countries and regions. This channel penetration strategy has brought Huawei significant market growth.
In terms of technological innovation, Huawei has also demonstrated a unique approach.
The WATCH 5 series launched in June this year features the “X-TAP Smart Window” function, integrating ECG, PPG optical heart rate, and tactile sensing technologies, generating a report on nine core health indicators in just one minute.
It also includes innovative features such as high-altitude blood oxygen monitoring and mood detection, even being joked by users to be “precise to the point of bowel movements.”
In contrast, while Apple maintains an annual update rhythm, its product upgrades have been widely criticized as “squeezing toothpaste.”
The Apple Watch Series 10, released last September, although touted as the thinnest ever, replaced the ceramic back used in previous generations with aluminum, and due to new wireless charging regulations, it lost fast charging capabilities, resulting in decreased charging efficiency.
Battery life is another weakness of the Apple Watch. The Apple SE series, starting at 1999 yuan, has a battery life of only 18 hours, requiring charging every two days, and is referred to by many users as a “beautiful waste.”
Additionally, the functionality limitations of the Apple Watch sold in China have long troubled consumers, such as the sleep apnea detection feature only supporting the latest models, and mainland users needing to jailbreak to experience it.
Of course, the Apple Watch still has its advantages.
Many users report that the operating experience of the Apple Watch is smoother than that of Huawei, and its application ecosystem is richer. Since the launch of the Apple Watch in 2015, over 50,000 applications compatible with the watch have been accumulated, covering professional fields such as healthcare, finance, and productivity.
In contrast, the applications available on Huawei’s app market for watches are relatively few, mainly consisting of utility and light entertainment applications.
This difference stems from the different design philosophies of the underlying systems. Huawei’s HarmonyOS is built on a microkernel, emphasizing multi-device collaboration; while Apple’s iOS and watchOS adopt a closed architecture for single devices, allowing applications to directly access the watch’s hardware resources, resulting in a smoother operating experience.
The competitive atmosphere in the market is becoming increasingly intense.
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Next month, both sides are expected to launch new products:
Huawei is likely to release the WATCH GT6 series on September 19, supporting star flash technology and offering various new colors;
Apple will focus on launching the Apple Watch Ultra3 at its event on September 10, enhancing outdoor performance and supporting satellite communication and more precise GPS positioning.
It is worth noting that although Huawei has surpassed Apple in global market share for the first time, the gap between the two is only 4%. Faced with Apple’s strong push with new products, whether Huawei can maintain its leading advantage remains highly uncertain.
The significance of Huawei surpassing Apple goes far beyond the numbers themselves. It proves that Chinese technology companies can not only achieve innovation on a technical level but also compete with international giants in the market.
However, in the long run, if Huawei wants to truly consolidate its leading position, it needs to put in more effort in expanding overseas markets and building its application ecosystem.
