Huawei Overtakes Apple to Lead Global Wearables Market in Q1 2025, Driven by Surge in China

Huawei leads the global wearables market in Q1 2025 with 10 million shipments. Xiaomi and Apple follow, while China's rapid growth is fueled by government subsidies.

According to the latest data from IDC China, Huawei has taken the top spot in the global wearables market for Q1 2025 (January–March), shipping 10 million units and capturing a 21.9% market share. This marks an impressive 42.4% year-over-year growth, up from 7 million units and 17% market share in Q1 2024.

Xiaomi secured second place with 8.7 million shipments and a 19% share, posting the highest annual growth of all major brands at 42.6%, up from 6.1 million units and a 14.7% share last year.

In a surprising shift, Apple fell to third place with 7 million shipments and a 15.5% market share, although it still recorded a solid 37.2% growth over its 5.1 million unit performance in Q1 2024.

Samsung landed in fourth, shipping 3.4 million units and holding a 7.5% share, but saw a 5.7% year-on-year decline. In Q1 2024, Samsung shipped 3.6 million units with an 8.8% market share.

Rounding out the top five, Garmin shipped 2.1 million wearables, grabbing a 4.7% market share with 29.5% growth compared to 1.6 million units in the same quarter last year.

The global wearables market as a whole grew by 10.5% year-on-year, reaching 45.6 million shipments in Q1 2025—up from 41.2 million units in Q1 2024. Of these, 34.81 million were smartwatches and 10.76 million were smart bands.

Notably, China accounted for 17.62 million units, representing 37.6% growth year-on-year. The Chinese smartwatch market reached 11.4 million units, up 25.3%, while the smart band segment soared by 67.9% to 6.21 million units.

IDC credits this explosive growth in China to the national subsidy scheme, which continues to stimulate demand for wearables. The firm predicts that China’s full-year 2025 wearables shipments will rise by 36.9% over 2024 levels, setting the stage for continued global market dominance.