The first quarter of 2025 painted a pretty clear picture for the wearable band market: It’s no longer just about who can cram the most features into a tiny device. We’re seeing a full-blown shift where the ecosystem and affordability are becoming the true battlegrounds.
According to research-firm Canalys, the market bounced back with a respectable 13% year-on-year growth, hitting 46.6 million units shipped. A lot of that momentum came from a comparatively low base in the first quarter of 2024, but it’s still good news across the board, with basic bands, basic watches, and smartwatches all showing signs of life.
The biggest story here, and what everyone’s likely curious about, is Xiaomi. For the first time since the second quarter of 2021, the company has snatched the top spot in wearable-band shipments. It shipped a whopping 8.7 million units, marking a massive 44% growth. How did Xiaomi do it? A refreshed portfolio, including its popular Redmi Band 5 and Xiaomi Smart Band 9, hitting that sweet spot of affordability with advanced features, especially in emerging markets. The HyperOS integration is also a key play, knitting the wearables into a broader “Human × Car × Home” strategy, Canalys explained. It’s a smart move in a market where hardware margins are getting tighter than ever.
Apple, typically the dominant force, found itself in second place. While its Apple Watch shipments did see a 5% increase to 7.6 million units, it’s a more conservative showing compared to Xiaomi’s explosive growth. This year marks the Apple Watch’s 10th anniversary, so it’s a fair bet we’ll see Apple pull out all the stops in the latter half of 2025 with a significant refresh, leveraging the American technology giant’s deeply integrated health ecosystem. For now, Apple’s relatively quiet update cycle for lines like the Watch SE and Ultra might have contributed to the more modest growth.
Huawei, which just launched the Watch Fit 4 Pro, Watch Fit 4, and Watch 5 in the Philippines, is still holding strong. It defended its third position with a solid 36% growth, shipping 7.1 million units. The company’s GT and Fit series are performing well, and it’s aggressively pushing its Huawei Health app globally, a clear sign it’s also banking on a robust health ecosystem beyond just hardware. Here in the Philippines,
Then there’s Samsung, which saw an impressive 74% surge in shipments to 4.9 million units. The Korean manufacturer’s strategy is a bit of a two-step: focusing on mass-market basic bands to expand its reach in emerging economies, while simultaneously maintaining its premium smartwatch positioning in developed markets. It seems to be working.
Garmin rounded out the top five, growing 10% to 1.8 million units, relying on its differentiated portfolio and the new Connect+ service to keep its loyal user base engaged.
The takeaway from Q1 2025 is clear: the wearable market is maturing, and the focus is shifting. It’s no longer a simple race to build the best gadget. It’s about building a compelling ecosystem that keeps users locked in, offering services and seamless integration that go beyond the initial hardware purchase. Price, battery life, and health tracking remain crucial for consumers, especially in Europe according to recent studies, but the real differentiator moving forward will be how well these companies can build out their platforms and recurring revenue streams. The hardware is just the entry ticket; the ecosystem is where the real value lies.
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