Apple Watch did experience a meaningful slowdown through 2024 and the first quarter of 2025, but “in uninterrupted global decline for two years” is too absolute. Apple’s broader Wearables, Home and Accessories category fell for two consecutive fiscal years, global smartwatch shipments declined in 2024, and Huawei briefly overtook Apple in worldwide shipments in the second quarter of 2025. However, the smartwatch market returned to growth in Q2 2025, and Counterpoint data cited in 2026 indicated that Apple Watch shipments also returned to year-over-year growth in calendar 2025.
The most defensible conclusion is that Apple Watch went through roughly two years of declining momentum in a maturing and temporarily shrinking market. The slump appears to have eased, but the available evidence is not yet enough to call the recovery permanent.
The evidence points to weakness, not collapse
Several different measurements are being blended when people say that Apple Watch is “in decline.” They are not interchangeable:
- Shipments are units sent into distribution channels. They do not necessarily equal watches bought by consumers.
- Sell-through measures purchases by end users.
- Revenue changes with pricing, product mix, discounts, currency movements and sales volume.
- Market share can rise even when a company sells fewer units, provided the overall market falls faster.
- Installed base measures existing users, while upgrade rate measures how quickly those users replace their watches.
Apple does not publish a standalone Apple Watch revenue or unit-sales figure. Its financial filings group the watch with AirPods, Beats, HomePod, Apple TV, Vision Pro and other products in the Wearables, Home and Accessories category. That makes the category useful evidence of pressure around Apple’s personal-device business, but not a precise Apple Watch sales report.
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![Apple Watch Series 11 [GPS 46mm] Smartwatch with Jet Black Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band - M/L. Sleep Score, Fitness Tracker, Health Monitoring, Always-On Display, Water Resistant](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/416RQ0rtsUL._SL160_.jpg)
- A FULL-FEATURED HEALTH TRACKER—Apple Watch Series 11 gives you invaluable insights about your body, right from your wrist. Take an ECG anytime* and get alerts for a high and low heart rate or an irregular rhythm*—so you can stay closer to your heart. You can also view your overnight health tracking metrics with the Vitals app* and be notified of possible sleep apnea.*
- KNOW YOUR SLEEP SCORE—With advanced sleep tracking, Series 11 gives you a daily sleep score. It’s an easy way to help measure and understand the quality of your sleep, so you can make it more restorative.
- GET HYPERTENSION NOTIFICATIONS—Did you know that Series 11 can spot signs of chronic high blood pressure? By analyzing how your blood vessels respond to beats of the heart, it can notify you of possible hypertension.*
- SAFETY FEATURES—A smartwatch that puts your safety first. Series 11 can detect a hard fall or severe car crash, automatically help connect you with emergency services, and notify your emergency contacts.* Check In can automatically notify a loved one when you’ve arrived at your destination.
- A POWERFUL FITNESS TRACKER—With advanced metrics and motivating features like Pacer, Heart Rate Zones, training load, and Workout Buddy powered by Apple Intelligence from your nearby iPhone*—Series 11 is made to help everyone stay active, from runners and hikers to strength-training enthusiasts.
Third-party shipment data supplies the missing product-level context, although shipments still are not the same as consumer demand.
What the numbers actually show
| Period | Evidence | What it tells us |
|---|---|---|
| Fiscal 2023 | Apple’s Wearables, Home and Accessories revenue declined from the prior year. | Early evidence of weakness in the combined category. |
| Fiscal 2024 | Category revenue fell to $37.005 billion, from $39.845 billion in fiscal 2023. | A roughly 7.7% decline, but not an Apple Watch-only figure. |
| Calendar 2024 | Counterpoint reported a 7% decline in global smartwatch shipments. | The market suffered its first annual decline. |
| Q1 2024–Q1 2025 | Counterpoint reported five consecutive quarters of global smartwatch decline. | The weakness lasted beyond a single product launch or holiday season. |
| Fiscal 2025 | Apple’s combined category fell again, to $35.686 billion. | About 3.6% below fiscal 2024 and 10.4% below fiscal 2023. |
| Q2 2025 | Global smartwatch shipments grew 8% year over year. | The wider market began recovering. |
| Calendar 2025 | A report citing Counterpoint said Apple Watch shipments returned to annual growth and reached a 23% global shipment share. | The Apple Watch slump may have bottomed out, although this is analyst data rather than Apple-reported revenue. |
Apple’s filings show the following net sales:
- Fiscal 2023: $39.845 billion
- Fiscal 2024: $37.005 billion
- Fiscal 2025: $35.686 billion
These figures should be described as Apple’s combined Wearables, Home and Accessories revenue, not as Apple Watch revenue.
Why Apple Watch weakened in 2024
The downturn was partly an Apple problem and partly a smartwatch-market problem.
The wider market contracted
Counterpoint reported that global smartwatch shipments fell 7% in 2024, the category’s first annual decline. Demand was affected by market maturity and regional weakness, with India among the softer markets. A shrinking market naturally makes it harder for every major vendor to grow.
The geography of the market also shifted. China became the largest smartwatch shipment market in 2024, with Huawei, Xiaomi and BBK’s Imoo among the important contributors. This matters because Apple’s strongest advantages—iPhone integration, premium retail distribution and its established app ecosystem—do not translate equally in every region.
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![Apple Watch Series 11 [GPS 42mm] Smartwatch with Rose Gold Aluminum Case with Light Blush Sport Band - S/M. Sleep Score, Fitness Tracker, Health Monitoring, Always-On Display, Water Resistant](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31caPPnRysL._SL160_.jpg)
- A FULL-FEATURED HEALTH TRACKER—Apple Watch Series 11 gives you invaluable insights about your body, right from your wrist. Take an ECG anytime* and get alerts for a high and low heart rate or an irregular rhythm*—so you can stay closer to your heart. You can also view your overnight health tracking metrics with the Vitals app* and be notified of possible sleep apnea.*
- KNOW YOUR SLEEP SCORE—With advanced sleep tracking, Series 11 gives you a daily sleep score. It’s an easy way to help measure and understand the quality of your sleep, so you can make it more restorative.
- GET HYPERTENSION NOTIFICATIONS—Did you know that Series 11 can spot signs of chronic high blood pressure? By analyzing how your blood vessels respond to beats of the heart, it can notify you of possible hypertension.*
- SAFETY FEATURES—A smartwatch that puts your safety first. Series 11 can detect a hard fall or severe car crash, automatically help connect you with emergency services, and notify your emergency contacts.* Check In can automatically notify a loved one when you’ve arrived at your destination.
- A POWERFUL FITNESS TRACKER—With advanced metrics and motivating features like Pacer, Heart Rate Zones, training load, and Workout Buddy powered by Apple Intelligence from your nearby iPhone*—Series 11 is made to help everyone stay active, from runners and hikers to strength-training enthusiasts.
Apple’s product cycle was not especially compelling
Counterpoint attributed Apple’s 2024 weakness particularly to North America, citing the absence of an Ultra 3 and limited feature changes in the Series 10 generation. That does not mean Series 10 was an unsuccessful product; it means the upgrade case may not have been strong enough to move large numbers of existing owners.
For a first-time buyer, a modern Apple Watch can still offer a substantial experience. For someone already wearing a Series 7, Series 8, Series 9 or Ultra, incremental improvements are less persuasive. A functioning watch can continue to handle notifications, workouts, safety features and basic health tracking for years.
Competition became more aggressive
Apple also faces two different kinds of competition. Premium rivals such as Samsung and Garmin compete on ecosystem or sports capability. Lower-priced Chinese brands compete on basic tracking, battery life and price. In markets where a smartwatch is viewed primarily as an inexpensive fitness accessory, Apple’s pricing is difficult to justify.
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Why Apple Watch upgrades may be slowing
Smartwatches have a structural problem that smartphones faced later in their life cycle: once the basic experience is good enough, annual upgrades become harder to sell.
Rank #3
![Apple Watch SE 3 [GPS 40mm] Smartwatch with Starlight Aluminum Case with Starlight Sport Band - S/M. Fitness and Sleep Trackers, Heart Rate Monitor, Always-On Display, Water Resistant](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31YiTby0pOL._SL160_.jpg)
- GET SMARTER HEALTH INSIGHTS—Apple Watch SE 3 is an advanced health tracker that helps you better understand your body. The smartwatch sends alerts for an irregular heart rhythm, or an unusually high or low heart rate.* You can view your overnight health tracking metrics with the Vitals app,* track your sleep score, and get sleep apnea notifications.*
- A GREAT FITNESS TRACKER—SE 3 can track your workouts in a healthy number of ways—from running and strength training to simply achieving your 10K steps a day. With real-time metrics and Workout Buddy powered by Apple Intelligence from your nearby iPhone,* you’ll hit your goals like never before.
- KEEP HELP CLOSE AT HAND—SE 3 is a smartwatch that can detect a hard fall or severe car crash and automatically help connect you to emergency services and notify your emergency contacts.* Check In can automatically notify a loved one when you’ve arrived at your destination.
- WOMEN’S HEALTH INSIGHTS—SE 3 has advanced sensors that track your wrist temperature while you sleep. With this smartwatch, you can log your periods and symptoms, get period predictions, and get notified of cycle deviations.*
- GREAT BATTERY LIFE AND FASTER CHARGING—Enjoy a smartwatch with all-day, 18-hour battery life* from sunup to sundown. Then charge up to twice as fast as SE 2* and get up to 8 hours of battery in just 15 minutes.*
Longer replacement cycles
Battery aging and software support eventually encourage replacement, but a watch is not usually replaced every year. Owners may wait for a visibly better screen, a major health capability, materially longer battery life or a meaningful design change.
Incremental hardware differences
Series 10 brought design and feature changes, yet Counterpoint characterized the upgrades as limited enough to constrain demand. The issue is not that Apple stopped improving the watch; it is that improvements may have been more valuable to new buyers than to people who already owned a recent model.
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Apple Watch is strong as an iPhone companion, but many Garmin and other sport-focused watches last considerably longer between charges. That can matter more than a richer app ecosystem to runners, cyclists, hikers and travelers.
Health features are not universal
Health functions can require regulatory clearance and may vary by country or region. Apple’s hypertension-notification materials explicitly state that availability depends on regulatory approval and geography. Buyers should check the feature list for their country rather than assuming that an advertised health capability will work everywhere.
Why the decline may have ended
Counterpoint reported that global smartwatch shipments grew 8% year over year in Q2 2025 after five declining quarters. That is evidence of a market recovery, not proof that the category has returned to its earlier growth rate.
Rank #4
![Apple Watch SE 3 [GPS 40mm] Smartwatch with Midnight Aluminum Case with Midnight Sport Band - S/M. Fitness and Sleep Trackers, Heart Rate Monitor, Always-On Display, Water Resistant](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31Gq8SToFJL._SL160_.jpg)
- GET SMARTER HEALTH INSIGHTS—Apple Watch SE 3 is an advanced health tracker that helps you better understand your body. The smartwatch sends alerts for an irregular heart rhythm, or an unusually high or low heart rate.* You can view your overnight health tracking metrics with the Vitals app,* track your sleep score, and get sleep apnea notifications.*
- A GREAT FITNESS TRACKER—SE 3 can track your workouts in a healthy number of ways—from running and strength training to simply achieving your 10K steps a day. With real-time metrics and Workout Buddy powered by Apple Intelligence from your nearby iPhone,* you’ll hit your goals like never before.
- KEEP HELP CLOSE AT HAND—SE 3 is a smartwatch that can detect a hard fall or severe car crash and automatically help connect you to emergency services and notify your emergency contacts.* Check In can automatically notify a loved one when you’ve arrived at your destination.
- WOMEN’S HEALTH INSIGHTS—SE 3 has advanced sensors that track your wrist temperature while you sleep. With this smartwatch, you can log your periods and symptoms, get period predictions, and get notified of cycle deviations.*
- GREAT BATTERY LIFE AND FASTER CHARGING—Enjoy a smartwatch with all-day, 18-hour battery life* from sunup to sundown. Then charge up to twice as fast as SE 2* and get up to 8 hours of battery in just 15 minutes.*
Apple’s newer product lineup also supplied stronger reasons to upgrade than the preceding cycle. The Series 11, SE 3 and Ultra 3 introduced a broader refresh, including:
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- 5G connectivity across the Series 11, SE 3 and Ultra 3 lineup;
- hypertension notifications in supported and cleared markets;
- satellite connectivity on Ultra 3;
- longer battery life and updated health capabilities on Series 11; and
- a new entry-level SE generation.
Apple’s current U.S. lineup starts at $249 for the Apple Watch SE 3, $399 for Series 11 and $799 for Ultra 3. Hermès models begin at $1,249 for Hermès Series 11 and $1,399 for Hermès Ultra 3. Prices and availability can change, and cellular service, bands and subscriptions can increase the total cost.
A refreshed lineup can release delayed demand, especially when combined with a recovering market. But launches alone cannot demonstrate a durable turnaround. That requires several subsequent periods of growth and better performance across regions.
Apple Watch versus its alternatives
| Platform | Best fit | Main trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Watch | iPhone users who prioritize notifications, apps, safety features and tight device integration. | Requires a compatible iPhone and usually needs more frequent charging than sports-focused alternatives. |
| Garmin | Runners, cyclists, hikers and endurance athletes who prioritize battery life, training data and navigation. | Less seamless for Apple-style messaging, apps and general iPhone integration. |
| Samsung Galaxy Watch | Android users, particularly Samsung phone owners. | Not a comparable choice for buyers seeking Apple Watch integration with an iPhone. |
| Google Pixel Watch | Pixel and Android users who want Wear OS, Google services and Fitbit integration. | Best understood as an Android ecosystem product rather than a universal Apple Watch substitute. |
| Fitbit | People who want simpler activity and sleep tracking. | Less capable as a full smartwatch and tied to Fitbit’s feature and subscription model. |
| Huawei, Xiaomi and Amazfit | Buyers prioritizing price, battery life or region-specific features. | App support, payments, health features, compatibility and availability vary by country. |
For an iPhone owner, Apple Watch remains the most integrated mainstream option. For an Android owner, it is effectively the wrong platform regardless of its market share. For a serious endurance athlete, Garmin may be more suitable even if Apple Watch is the better everyday smartwatch.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What would prove a real turnaround?
The strongest recovery case would require more than one favorable quarter or a new product launch. Watch for:
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![Apple Watch Series 11 [GPS 42mm] Smartwatch with Jet Black Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band - S/M. Sleep Score, Fitness Tracker, Health Monitoring, Always-On Display, Water Resistant](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41s72HIk5TL._SL160_.jpg)
- A FULL-FEATURED HEALTH TRACKER—Apple Watch Series 11 gives you invaluable insights about your body, right from your wrist. Take an ECG anytime* and get alerts for a high and low heart rate or an irregular rhythm*—so you can stay closer to your heart. You can also view your overnight health tracking metrics with the Vitals app* and be notified of possible sleep apnea.*
- KNOW YOUR SLEEP SCORE—With advanced sleep tracking, Series 11 gives you a daily sleep score. It’s an easy way to help measure and understand the quality of your sleep, so you can make it more restorative.
- GET HYPERTENSION NOTIFICATIONS—Did you know that Series 11 can spot signs of chronic high blood pressure? By analyzing how your blood vessels respond to beats of the heart, it can notify you of possible hypertension.*
- SAFETY FEATURES—A smartwatch that puts your safety first. Series 11 can detect a hard fall or severe car crash, automatically help connect you with emergency services, and notify your emergency contacts.* Check In can automatically notify a loved one when you’ve arrived at your destination.
- A POWERFUL FITNESS TRACKER—With advanced metrics and motivating features like Pacer, Heart Rate Zones, training load, and Workout Buddy powered by Apple Intelligence from your nearby iPhone*—Series 11 is made to help everyone stay active, from runners and hikers to strength-training enthusiasts.
- At least two consecutive quarters of Apple Watch shipment growth.
- Growth faster than the total smartwatch market, indicating improved competitive position rather than simple market recovery.
- Stabilization or recovery in Apple’s Wearables category, while remembering that the category includes several non-watch products.
- Improvement outside North America, especially in regions where lower-cost competitors are expanding.
- Evidence of stronger upgrades among existing owners, not only first-time purchases.
- Sustained share without relying solely on premium pricing, which would show broader platform health rather than resilience at the top end.
Conversely, another year of declining category revenue, flat Apple Watch shipments during market growth, or continued share losses to Huawei and other vendors would suggest that the product-cycle problem remains.
Should you buy an Apple Watch now?
Buy now if you are a new iPhone user
The market slowdown does not make the current Apple Watch lineup a poor purchase. If you want an iPhone companion for notifications, workouts, safety and health features, the platform remains mature and well supported. The SE 3 is the value-oriented entry point; Series 11 adds a broader set of capabilities; Ultra 3 is aimed at buyers who need its larger, tougher, sport-oriented design and specialized functions.
Keep your current watch if it still meets your needs
Owners of a recent model should not upgrade merely because a new generation exists. Upgrade when you need materially better battery life, a feature your current model cannot support, a cellular or safety capability, a healthier battery, or a design suited to your activities.
Consider a discounted previous generation
A previous-generation Apple Watch can offer nearly the same practical experience as the newest model, particularly for notifications, workouts and basic health tracking. Check software compatibility, battery condition, cellular support and the exact availability of any health feature before buying.
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Choose another platform for a different priority
Choose Garmin if multi-day battery life and training tools matter more than iPhone-style apps. Choose Samsung or Pixel Watch for Android. Consider Fitbit for simpler tracking, or Huawei, Xiaomi and Amazfit where their local compatibility and services are a better fit.
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