A new analytical report revealed this morning that the Smartwatch and wearable band market shipments declined 18% in Q4 2022. Basic Band devices plummeted 43% while smartwatches dropped 17% with vendors such as Xiaomi dropping 46%, Huawei dropping 42% and Samsung dropping 35%. Apple, the leader of the smartwatch category and the overall wearable band market, declined 17% as the Canalys chart below confirms.

(Click on Chart to Enlarge)

In 2022 overall, smartwatches grew 3%, basic watches rose 21%, and basic bands fell 39%, leading to the whole wearable band market declining by 5%.  Apple was the only smartwatch maker to show growth for the year, at +5% while Xiaomi dropped 41%, Google dropping 22% as confirmed by the Canalys chart below.

(Click on Chart to Enlarge)

Unfortunately, the report by Canalys failed to provide a breakdown of Apple Watch models that were best sellers for Q4. It would have great to see how well the Apple Watch Ultra shipped in the holiday quarter.

Canalys Analyst Cynthia Chen: "The wearable band market is expected to grow at a modest 2% in 2023. While we expect basic bands to continue declining, basic watches and smartwatches will grow, but growth will be capped below 10%. Vendors remain vigilant and will emphasize quality rather than quantity given some recovery in consumer spending."

Canalys expects smartwatches, with 8% growth, to fare better than basic watch’s 6% growth. Further development will center on smartwatch OS, with more chances of connectivity and tracking features supported by pragmatic use-cases to debut on smartwatches, backed by consumers’ rising interest in advanced watches. For more details on Apple's competitors, review the full report by Canalys.

Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, noted during their Financial Conference Call in February that the company "continues to hear wide praise for Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch Ultra, which has set a new standard for what's possible with the wearable. From a whole host of health and safety features to incredible new capabilities for extreme athletes, there is something for everyone in these amazing products."