iPhone Buyers in U.S. More Than Twice as Likely to Own a Smartwatch as Android Buyers

New data from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners indicates that 35 percent of iPhone buyers in the United States have a smartwatch, compared to just 16 percent of Android buyers. This suggests that ‌iPhone‌ users are more than twice as likely as Android users to purchase a smartwatch.

cirp apple watch
Within this percentage of ‌iPhone‌ owners in the U.S., 19 percent own the Apple Watch and 10 percent own a Fitbit. Android owners are more likely to own a Fitbit (5 percent) than a Samsung smartwatch (4 percent).

“Among the relatively small share of all smartphone buyers that have any kind of smartwatch, iPhone buyers are twice as likely to own one than Android buyers,” said Josh Lowitz, CIRP Partner and Co-Founder.

“Not surprisingly, Apple Watch is the leading smartwatch for iPhone buyers, while about half as many own a Fitbit. Until now, Fitbit was a neutral brand, but now becomes part of the Google-Android-Pixel-Nest universe. This creates an interesting new Android entry point into the Apple ecosystem, with a decent percentage of iPhone owners now using a wearable that becomes a more Android-friendly device. Also, among the small percentage of Android owners that have a smartwatch, Samsung and Fitbit have roughly equal shares.”

Google just announced its plan to acquire Fitbit for $2.1 billion, planning to release a new "Made by Google" wearables category that includes Fitbit devices.

For Apple, CEO Tim Cook recently stated that Apple set new fourth quarter revenue records for its wearables in every market, based on strong sales for Apple Watch and other devices like AirPods and Beats headphones.

CIRP based its findings on a survey of 500 mobile phone buyers in the United States, surveyed from September 29 through October 10, 2019. Those surveyed activated a mobile phone in the U.S. in the July to September 2019 period.

Tag: CIRP

Popular Stories

streaming black friday 2025

Black Friday Streaming Deals Include Big Savings on Disney+, Hulu, Apple TV, and More

Monday November 24, 2025 8:03 am PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone to Debut These Three Breakthrough Features

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:09 am PST by
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models in fall 2026, and it's shaping up to include three standout features that could set it apart from the competition. The book-style foldable will reportedly feature an industry-first 24-megapixel under-display camera built into the inner display, according to a recent JP Morgan equity research report. That...
General Black Friday Deals 25 Red

Apple Black Friday Deals Available Now on AirPods, iPads, Accessories, and More

Friday November 21, 2025 8:48 am PST by
We're only a few days away from Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
General Apps Messages Redux

Singapore Orders Changes to iMessage by December

Tuesday November 25, 2025 6:39 am PST by
Singapore has ordered Apple to block or filter messages on iMessage that impersonate government agencies, requiring the company to implement new anti-spoofing protections by December as part of efforts to curb rising online scams, the Straits Times reports. Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that it had issued an Implementation Directive to Apple under the Online Criminal Harms...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Adds These New Features to Your iPhone

Thursday November 20, 2025 10:50 am PST by
iOS 26.2 is currently in beta testing. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics for Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date. Keep reading...
maxresdefault

The MacRumors Show: iPhone 18 Pro Looks Like a Huge Upgrade

Friday November 21, 2025 9:10 am PST by
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we talk through all of the new features and improvements expected to come to next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos Apple's next-generation iPhones are less than ten months away and we already have a good idea about what to expect based on corroborated leaks, rumors,...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

iOS 27 Will Reportedly Have Two Key Upgrades

Sunday November 23, 2025 8:48 am PST by
iOS 27 will reportedly have two major elements: quality improvements and new AI features. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that iOS 27 will be similar to Mac OS X Snow Leopard, in the sense that Apple is focused on improving "quality and underlying performance" over adding new features. Gurman said there is one exception to this rule, though, as he expects...
apple news banner

Apple News Loses CNN

Monday November 24, 2025 7:56 am PST by
American multinational news company CNN has abruptly pulled its content from Apple News, Semafor reports. CNN quietly removed its stories from Apple News over the weekend and there is no longer a feed from the network to subscribe to in the app. This effectively ends its distribution agreement with Apple while the two sides negotiate new terms. Discussions are apparently ongoing and CNN's...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Crease-Free iPhone Fold on Track for 2026 Launch as Development Advances

Monday November 24, 2025 10:25 am PST by
Apple is making progress on the development of the book-style foldable iPhone expected in 2026, according to a report from Chinese site UDN. The device has reportedly entered the engineering validation stage, and Apple is gearing up for mass production. Citing supply chain sources, UDN says that Apple has solved "the crease problem" that has plagued most foldable smartphones, and the...

Top Rated Comments

topgunn Avatar
79 months ago

I wish they were buying Garmin. Garmin understands battery life much better than Apple so with the right marketing and investments Garmin could bury the Apple Watch on the health monitoring front.
There’s no free lunch. The moment Garmin starts doing all of the things Apple is doing with the Apple Watch, you’ll end up with a watch that gets slightly more than one day of battery life.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I7guy Avatar
79 months ago

I wish they were buying Garmin. Garmin understands battery life much better than Apple so with the right marketing and investments Garmin could bury the Apple Watch on the health monitoring front.
When your watch is a glorified heart rate monitor, yeah battery life can be great.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jonnyb098 Avatar
79 months ago
Not surprising since Android itself is a fragmented mess and Android Wear is all but dead. Apple has the ecosystem that Google will never be able to duplicate with its fragmentation.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I7guy Avatar
79 months ago

Nope. My priority is it should have long enough battery to last the day without cutting features. Apple Watch can barely last a day and it doesn't even monitor your activity all the time.

Apple Watch does many things badly instead of doing a few things well. Surprisingly un-Apple design in that way. Truly a Tim product.


BTW here's Apple's own documentation where they admit they can't do continuous heart rate monitoring

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204666
So where to start debunking this nonsense.

1. the article you linked to specifically states heart rate is monitored continuously during exercise.
2. Other “smart watches” last longer Than the AW because as you said they are smart watches and not “crippled smartphones”, which are higher up on the totem pole.
3. making a blanket statement without any support is easy, so I’ll rephrase yours.
- Truly a Tim Cook product. Does most things well and a few things could use improvement.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
baryon Avatar
79 months ago
In other words, richer people are more likely to own more gadgets.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
realtuner Avatar
79 months ago

And McDonalds sells the most burgers so they must be the best too...
That analogy best applies to Android as a whole, since the vast majority of devices sold are low-end junk.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)