Ahead of Galaxy Watch 8, Samsung continues to fall in the global smartwatch market

Andrew Romero | Jul 7 2025 - 7:41 am PT

As Samsung fans prepare for the launch of the Galaxy Watch 8 series, overall trends indicate that the company is failing to keep up with competing OEMs as they release new smartwatches.

A report by Counterpoint broke down a few aspects of the global smartwatch market in 2025. According to those findings, Samsung’s smartwatch sales have taken an 18% dive in Q1. That data represents a YoY loss in “previous-generation” smartwatch sales.

This comes as the company is preparing to launch its Galaxy Watch 8 smartwatch series, consisting of the Galaxy Watch 8 and Galaxy Watch 8 Classic. The launch also includes a new Galaxy Watch Ultra model, though little information is available.

The report also noted that Huawei and Xiaomi saw growth in smartwatch shipments. This would indicate that this isn’t a global decline in smartwatch sales and seems to be specific to Samsung. Global sales only dropped 2% YoY, with China seeing a 37% increase in Q1 2025.

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There could be several reasons for the smartwatch sales drop leading up to the Galaxy Watch 8 series. Increasing prices can drive users away from purchasing new models, while the spec sheet for new devices doesn’t always offer massive jumps in performance. The Galaxy Watch 8 series, for instance, uses the same processor as the upcoming Galaxy Watch 8 models. Still, Samsung is continuously updating One UI with new features, even if they may not be free forever.

Samsung has also taken a strong hold for several watch generations as the ecosystem gets stronger and stronger, and Wear OS gets better. Still, there is a bit of an unknown as to what the release of the Galaxy Watch 8 sales will look like as the design isn’t quite hitting for some.

Samsung has reservations open now for the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Flip 7 series, with a $50 credit when you pre-order and a free entry for a chance to win $5,000. Samsung notes reservations are free, and there’s no obligation to actually buy a device if you sign up, but there’s no other time you can get that $50 credit.