Xiaomi shipments rose after the company refreshed its Redmi Watch and Xiaomi Smart Band models.
Samsung reportedly adopted a dual-track strategy and its shipments rose 74 percent YoY
Xiaomi led the wearable band market in Q1 2025, after refreshing uts Mi Band and Redmi Watch models earlier this year, according to a Canalys report. The Beijing-based technology firm surpassed Apple and regained the top vendor spot, as its shipments saw an annual growth of 44 percent. Huawei, Samsung, and Garmin were in third, fourth and fifth places, respectively. Meanwhile, a new study reveals that customers look for affordability, long battery life, and support for health tracking as the top three features when purchasing a smartwatch.
Canalys' latest Wearable Band Analysis report reveals that the global wearable band shipments rose to 46.6 million in Q1 2025, as the market grew 13 percent year-on-year (YoY). Basic wearables saw the highest growth, and Xiaomi shipped the most wearables bands in the first quarter, after launching two new models, the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 and Redmi Band 5. The latter was the company's best selling wearable device.
Top wearable band vendors in Q1 2025
Photo Credit: Canalys
Apple and Huawei were in second and third place, respectively. Canalys expects Apple's market share (presently at 16 percent) to grow in the second half of 2025, as the company is expected to launch it's 10th anniversary smartwatch in the coming months. Huawei shipments grew 36 percent YoY to 7.1 million units, after its Fit and GT wearable devices performed well.
With a massive 74 percent growth in Q1 2025, Samsung's shipments in the same period grew to 4.9 million units, as the company focused on affordable devices (Galaxy Fit) and premium models (Galaxy Watch) in emerging and affluent markets, respectively.
Garmin nudged its existing user base to upgrade to newer models in a diverse product portfolio in the first quarter, as its shipments rose 10 percent YoY to 1.8 million units, as per the Canalys report. The wearable maker was in fifth place in terms of global shipment market share.
“With hardware profitability under strain, the wearables market is shifting from being hardware-led to ecosystem-driven,” said Cynthia Chen, Research Manager at Omdia-owned Canalys. “Vendors are accelerating platform and service development to boost recurring revenue and user retention.”
A recent consumer survey conducted by Canalys revealed that 18,185 of respondents were concerned about the prices of wearables, while 14,691 people responded saying battery life was an important factor to be considered while purchasing a smartwatch. Health tracking capabilities were the third most important factor for buyers, as per the survey.
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