According to market data from Counterpoint Research, Apple shipped 12.9 million models of the Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE in the fourth quarter of 2020.
The market saw an overall decline in smartwatch shipments compared to last year due to the ongoing global health crisis. Apple, however, saw a 19% increase in shipments YoY. Apple was the single largest smartwatch maker in Q4 of 2019 when it controlled 34% of the market. In the final quarter of last year, Apple Watch models accounted for 40% of the market share.
Apple's market share consolidation can be attributed to the new Apple Watch SE's success, the mid-range Apple Watch option. Apple released the SE model alongside its flagship Series 6 at a lower $279 price point, with some caveats such as the lack of an always-on display, ECG functionality, and the faster S6 processor.
Counterpoint senior analyst Sujeong Lim says that the new mid-range Apple Watch SE will likely push Samsung and other smartwatch makers to create similar, mid-range options for customers looking for cheaper alternatives to main flagships.
Thursday June 18, 2026 12:35 pm PDT by Juli Clover
watchOS 27 is the new version of watchOS that's coming to the Apple Watch this fall. It's a little light on features, but there are some useful new additions, including access to Siri AI.
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watchOS 27 will have Siri AI, so you'll be able to use many of the same Siri features that you have on the iPhone on your wrist. Right now, the...
Apple's decision to drop watchOS 27 support for five Apple Watch models – the Series 6, 7, 8, SE 2, and the original Ultra – likely caused some hand-wringing at this year's WWDC. The software's compatibility list cuts off three years of devices in one update. Fortunately, Apple today confirmed that unsupported watches will still work with iOS 27 when it's released in the fall.
Speaking to Tec...
Apple's watchOS 27, previewed at this month's WWDC, removes four built-in apps from all supported Apple Watch models, folding three of them into a single Find My app and dropping Walkie-Talkie entirely, based on the first developer beta released this month.
The largest change affects Find My. watchOS 27 developer beta 1 replaces the separate Find Devices, Find People, and Find Items apps...
“Second largest” after “Others”??? How about an edit to correct this. “Others” is only a grab-bag of all the other unidentified manufacturers - Apple was the largest by a huge margin.
This is the forum thread ('https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-announces-apple-watch-available-in-early-2015-from-349.1773623/') on the day the Apple Watch was first announced in September 2014.
Here's a couple of examples of the characteristic MacRumors' forum optimism about new Apple products:
One miniaturisation too far. A white elephant. Look for them in eBay in a year. Do you want to be "That Knob With The Apple Watch Over There?" And by 'Knob' we aren't referring to The Digital Crown here, readers.
While I have never been a watch person, I was surprised at how quickly I got used to using the AW. I now feel kind of naked when I am not wearing it.
One thing I hate about the AW, is the handling of SW updates and the small storage size. I cannot update the OS due to not having enough free space. I tried deleting everything that was optional to delete, and I still couldn't free up enough space to do the update.
It appears that if I unpair and reset the watch, I can do the update, but this is a pretty crappy way of handling SW updates.
Overall, I am happy with it, but the SW update issues are quite annoying.
Apple's sudden overtaking of the market can be attributed to the new Apple Watch SE's success, the mid-range Apple Watch option. Apple released the SE model alongside its flagship Series 6 at a lower $279 price point, with some caveats such as the lack of an always-on display, ECG functionality, and the faster S6 processor.
The rest of the tech industry could be in some serious trouble if apple keep releasing these mid range products with flagship processors.
Basically, they were able to sell some only once they cheapened the product with less features and quality. Anyone who uses Android can now use Fitbit which actually has more battery life and is an actual health device. I feel that Fitness+ should be brought to anti-trust by other fitness apps just like Spotify vs Apple.
This is precisely what I was talking about in the other thread.
In what bizarro world is a great user experience for the customer, made possible by Apple's tight integration between hardware, software and services, suddenly a sign of monopolistic behaviour by Apple?
Apple's first foldable iPhone, with a book-style design featuring a ~5.5-inch outer display and a ~7.8-inch inner display with a minimal crease down the middle.
