Smartwatches have become, in the space of 10 years, an essential accessory. They have made a place for themselves on millions of wrists. Their sales have even exceeded those of traditional watchmaking. Symbolizing this rise in power, the Apple Watch is the connected watch par excellence.
It is also the one that has dominated the market for a decade. But in a recent report from Counterpoint Research, we learn that the smartwatch market, growing since its inception, seems to have reached a certain maturity. Sales experienced a serious decline in 2024, the first in history.
Apple, spearheading this market smartwatches, was one of the companies hardest hit by this decline. This isn't just a case of stagnation; sales have actually taken a leap backward. According to Counterpoint Research, the market as a whole is expected to see a 7% decline in 2024 compared to 2023.
Apple drops almost 20%
For the Apple brand in particular, the decline would be even more severe. The Apple Watch lost 19% of its sales in 2024. This figure can be explained in particular by the difficulty in establishing the latest Apple watches in North America. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Series 9 models were temporarily suspended, and the new Series 10, eagerly awaited by the general public, was more than disappointing.
Apple has only provided minor software updates, but otherwise, the Apple Watch is slow to modernize. The developments are not striking and Apple is now suffering in the face of competition that no longer hesitates to slash prices to gain a foothold.
Apple suffers in the face of innovative competition
More and more brands are offering high-quality smartwatches, all for a few hundred euros. Apple, for its part, hasn't updated its Apple Watch SE (and the death of the iPhone SE puts this model in the hot seat). The only recent Apple watches are the Series 10 and the Ultra 2. You have to pay 449 euros (minimum) for such a product.
That's way too much money for the vast majority of people interested in smartwatches, especially when you consider that products like the brand new Amazfit Active 2 sell for just 100 euros. Other, more well-known brands, such as Samsung and Xiaomi, have managed to gain market share in this complicated year, proving to Apple that there is a way to find growth in 2024.
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