Samsung hopes to convince athletes of the Galaxy Watch5 Pro's ability as a training tool, announcing Monday a partnership with TYR Wodapalooza for CrossFit games. The Watch5 provides heartrate tracking and body mass index readings, plus workout tracking for metabolic conditioning, the companies said. The watch's sleep tracking and a sleep coaching feature help users manage sleep quality, they said. Qualifying events run until Oct. 22, with finals Jan. 13-16 in Miami.
Fossil Group’s smartwatch sales “lagged” in Q2, with growth in Asia more than offset by declines in the Americas and Europe, said CEO Kosta Kartsotis on an earnings call Wednesday. Net sales in Fossil’s smartwatch category were down 18% in constant currency, said the company. “Heading into holiday, we expect sales trends to improve” with Fossil’s recently launched Gen 6 Hybrid smartwatch platform and its “refresh” of Gen 6 products to include Google’s Wear OS 3 operating system, Kartsotis said. “Both platforms will work on our proprietary new smartwatch app, which will have an improved wellness features set." Gen 6 with Wear OS 3 smartwatch and the Fossil app “are planned to launch in time for holiday 2022 selling,” he said. “We are particularly excited about the smartwatch app as it will enable us to get first party data and engage with our customers at a higher level.” Based on the negative “macro dynamics” that intensified in Q2, “we are taking a more cautious view of the consumer across all three of our geographies” for second-half 2022, said Kartsotis. Fossil’s revised outlook “reflects that our wholesale business will remain challenging and that we have reduced our prior expectations for a return to normalcy in our China business this year,” he said.
Apple maintained its share lead in the smartwatch segment in Q1, at 28.9%, on shipments of 9.2 million, up from 7.6 million in the year-ago quarter, said Canalys Wednesday. Samsung gained on Huawei with 53% growth on 3.4 million shipments, for 10.5% share vs. Huawei’s 10.6%, it said. Garmin’s shipments dropped by 100,000 to 1.6 million in the quarter. Though rising inflation is expected to dampen discretionary consumer spending in 2022, smartwatches are “tools that many users have grown dependent on to keep them healthy and informed, and it will remain a category with growth potential in 2022,” said analyst Cynthia Chen.
The smartwatch market grew 24% year on year in 2021, on strong demand for models with double-digit price tags, reported Counterpoint Research Monday. Apple remained the market leader, but Samsung, Amazfit and Garmin posted higher growth. Smartwatches’ integrated blood pressure monitors, electrocardiograms and blood oxygen sensors are boosting the devices’ popularity, said analyst Sujeong Lim. Their popularity will grow if more smartwatches start to support cellular connectivity, Lim said. Apple had 30% market share, slipping 3 points from last year, but its average selling price (ASP) increased 3% without release of a lower priced SE model last year, Counterpoint said. Samsung recorded its best quarter ever for smartphone shipments in Q3, spiking over 200% on its move to Wear OS via a Google partnership, said the research firm. Amazfit had 20% growth over the past two years; its ASP rose 11% on the strength of higher end GTR and GTS models. Garmin’s performance was “better than expected,” rising 35% in shipments year on year, boosting its global share by a point as it shifts to “attractive consumer products,” Counterpoint said. Fitbit’s 2021 performance was "weak," on a dearth of new products following the brand’s purchase by Google; shipments fell 15% year on year, Lim said. Fitbit is expected to rebound in second half 2022 on the release of Versa 4.
Samsung’s advertising and marketing dupes consumers into believing the Galaxy Watch Active2 smartwatch is water-resistant and can stand up to common fitness activities, including swimming, but the product “routinely fails” in only “brief encounters with water,” alleged a complaint Friday in U.S. District Court in Riverside, California, seeking class-action status. San Bernardino County resident Nic Dahlquist bought his Active2 smartwatch from Amazon in June for $172, believing Samsung’s “representations” that the product could be worn while swimming, it said. His use of the device in a pool in January “was consistent with its operating instructions,” it said. “Upon exiting the pool, the device became stuck in a reboot loop.” Dahlquist contacted Samsung, which told him he needed to pay $209 for repairs because he was denied warranty coverage, it said. Samsung’s representations about the product's water-resistance capabilities “are materially false because they do not perform as advertised under normal, real-world conditions and use,” the complaint said. Its ads “mislead consumers by creating the reasonable but false belief” that if the smartwatch gets wet, “it will not sustain any damage,” but the internet is full of complaints about the product’s “inability to withstand water as advertised,” in violation of unfair competition, false advertising and consumer protection laws, said the complaint. Samsung created “internal indicators” to detect when the Active2 smartwatch is exposed to water, and it’s the company’s policy “to deny warranty repair or replacement when this indicator is activated,” it said. “This means buyers are told one thing when they buy the Product, based on the representations, but something else when they need after-sales service or replacement.” The price of repair typically exceeds that of the smartwatch when purchased new, the complaint said. Samsung didn’t comment.
About 29% of U.S. internet households have adopted a smartwatch, up from 16% a year ago; 17% own an Apple Watch and 7% a Samsung wearable, said Parks Associates Tuesday. Samsung is on pace to overtake Google's Fitbit as the second-largest player in the U.S. wearables market this year, behind Apple, it said. Smartwatch owners are “a particularly enthusiastic core of the connected health market,” said analyst Kristen Hanich, saying smartwatch owners tend to own other connected devices including fitness products, weight scales and smart thermometers.
Apple encouraged customers to “shop directly with Apple,” for the Series 7 Apple Watch, which went on preorder Friday. “The best place to buy the latest Apple products is at Apple,” said the company, promoting personalized support from an “Apple Specialist,” convenient delivery and pickup options, free engraving, special carrier offers and “great new trade-in values.” Buying directly from the company gives shoppers the “exclusive” chance to buy their preferred case and band, it said. Apple Watch Series 7, starting at $399, has more rounded corners, a thinner 1.7 mm face design, Qwerty keyboard and new watch faces designed for the latest series. Battery life is given as 18 hours, with 33% faster charging. The watch will be in stores Oct. 15. Customers can buy the cellular version from Apple online or in-store and get $100 back when they activate it with T-Mobile/Sprint or Verizon, said the company. They can also get credit for a trade-in toward a new watch, it said.
Q2 global smartwatch shipments grew 47% year on year to 18 million, led by Apple Watch with 53% share at 9.5 million units. The category is growing at its fastest rate since 2018, said analyst Steven Waltzer Friday, saying fitness is a leading driver. The outlook through the holiday season is “highly promising,” said analyst Neil Mawston, highlighting Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 4 that’s packed with health tracking apps. Samsung is in second place with 11% share on 2 million shipments, followed by Garmin at 8% on 1.5 million. Garmin’s global smartwatch market share slipped from 10% to 8% in the quarter due to tougher competition in Asia from Xiaomi and Samsung. Apple Watch Series 6 is “by far the world’s most popular smartwatch model, due to its blend of sleek design, good usability on a small screen, and a growing portfolio of health and fitness apps,” said Mawston, who said Apple Watch Series 7, due in September-October, is “eagerly awaited” for an expected larger display.
Samsung’s Google-enabled Galaxy Watch 4 series, unveiled Wednesday, will give Samsung and Google “a real shot at the wearables market,” emailed GlobalData analyst Anisha Bhatia on Wednesday after the tech company’s Unpacked event. GlobalData pegs the wearables market value at $64 billion by 2030. As the first device to combine Google’s Wear operating system and Samsung’s Tizen smartwatch platforms, the Galaxy Watch 4 will bring increased developer and app support for Samsung and hardware expertise to Google. That’s a “a win-win” for both companies, as they try to break Apple’s “stranglehold” on the smartwatch market, said the analyst. A partnership with Google also expands Samsung’s smartwatches to other Android phones, giving Samsung a way to appeal to the non-Apple customer base, she said.
The smartwatch market will rise at an 11% compound annual growth rate through 2024 to $14.57 billion, said a Friday Technavio report. Year-over-year growth in 2020 is forecast at 4.49%. Some 54% of smartwatch sales growth through the forecast period will come from North America. A key driver will be technology advances in the semiconductor market, it said.