Samsung fell to third place in the global smartwatch market in Q1 2020, at least according to new data shared by market analysis firm Canalys. Samsung was reportedly outperformed by Huawei who climbed up the ladder to grab the silver medal from the Korean tech giant, the latter of which reportedly shipped 1.8 million smartwatches over the three-month period.
According to the data, Samsung shipped roughly 600,000 more smartwatches in Q1 2020 than it did a year ago. The company boosted its global market share from 9.6% to 12.4% year-on-year, but despite all this, Samsung was still overtaken by Huawei with 2.1 million shipments and a 14.9% market share.
Different market research firms, different methodologies
It's worth noting that the latest bits of information don't quite match the previous analysis from Strategy Analytics. The previous report claimed Samsung had shipped 1.9 million smartwatches and secured 2nd place in Q1 2020 after Apple and ahead of Garmin with a market share of 13.9%. Similarly, the previous report claimed that the smartwatch market as a whole grew 20% year-on-year in Q1 2020, while the recent analysis from Canalys estimates that the smartwatch market experienced only a 12% YoY increase in the first quarter.
Simply put, these discrepancies exist because different market watchers have different research methodologies, and final results can end up being more or less dissimilar. With all said and done, Samsung may have indeed lost second place to Huawei in Q1 2020, at least according to some market watchers but not others. Whatever the case may be, Samsung is gearing up to unveil the new Galaxy Watch 3 and the upcoming wearable might have the potential to propel the company's influence in the segment, especially since it's going to be a direct sequel to the Galaxy Watch instead of a Watch Active 2 successor.
