A Counterpoint Research report indicates that the Apple Watch remained the smartwatch market leader in Q2 2021. The Apple Watch Series 6, Apple Watch SE, and Apple Watch Series 3 were among the top five most sold wearables during the quarter. More importantly, the report estimates the active Apple Watch user base has now crossed 100 million users worldwide.

The strong adoption of the Apple Watch among iPhone users can be attributed to the strong ecosystem lock-in and the attractive features that the Apple Watch packs. The US also continues to be the largest Apple Watch market for Apple, with over 50 percent of the user base coming from the country.

The smartwatch market saw a healthy 27 percent growth in Q2 2021 compared to the same quarter from last year. As things slowly get back to normal worldwide and the COVID-19 restrictions are reduced or removed, smartwatch sales are bound to go up further.

Despite the strong showing from the Apple Watch, its market share reduced from last year due to a steady rise in competition from budget smartwatches from Chinese and Indian brands. Samsung saw a notable rise in its smartwatch shipments as it jumped by 43 percent in Q2 2021, thanks to the strong showing from the Galaxy Watch 2 and Watch Active 2. Garmin also saw its shipments increase by 62 percent in the said quarter.

The Apple Watch has an unassailable lead in health tracking, with watchOS being more feature-packed and advanced than anything else in the market. However, just like in the earbuds segment, Apple is facing stiff competition from Chinese and Indian brands. While these OEMs cannot offer an OS as advanced as watchOS, they can offer similar health tracking features in their smartwatches that are usually priced at less than $100.