Counterpoint Research's Q2 2026 smartwatch numbers say something that should not be possible in a shrinking market. The market contracted, and Garmin got bigger.
Global smartwatch shipments fell 4 percent year over year in the second quarter of 2026, the first decline in a year. Against that backdrop Garmin shipped 11 percent more watches, lifting its global share to 5.6 percent from 4.9 percent a year earlier and finishing fifth overall.
That reads like a clean countercyclical story. The fuller picture is more interesting, because Garmin's own earnings show the growth is not coming from the watches you would expect.
The Market Fell, Garmin Didn't
Counterpoint's data, published August 26, puts the shape of the quarter in a few lines.
Huawei took the top spot for the first time, reaching a record 22 percent share and pushing Apple down to second at 20 percent. Apple still grew faster than anyone else in the top five, up 14 percent, and Apple's share of the market has been the most volatile number on the board: 20 percent in Q1 2025, 17 percent in Q2 2025, 23 percent, then 32 percent in Q4, 23 percent, and back to 20 percent this quarter.
Regionally, North America was the strongest market at 8 percent growth, followed by China at 7 percent, where Huawei and Imoo were helped along by a Chinese government electronics subsidy scheme. Within North America, high-level OS smartwatch shipments grew 4 percent: Apple up 13 percent, Garmin up 6 percent, and Samsung down 13 percent.
Then there is Xiaomi, which fell 38 percent, dropped to fourth place, and watched its share collapse from 9.5 percent to 6.1 percent.
Where Garmin's Growth Actually Came From
Here is the part the shipment charts flatten out, and Garmin's own quarterly report fills it in.
Garmin posted record Q2 2026 revenue of $2.02 billion, up 11 percent, with operating income up 30 percent and full-year guidance raised to roughly $8.05 billion. Our full breakdown of the earnings report covers the rest of it. The segment doing the work was Fitness, up 25 percent to $756.8 million, which Garmin attributed to "growth across all product categories, led by strong demand for advanced wearables."
Meanwhile Garmin's Outdoor segment fell 2 percent, reversing from steady growth. Outdoor is where the Fenix, Epix, Enduro and tactix lines live. Fitness is where the Forerunner, Venu and vivoactive lines live, along with the new screenless CIRQA band.
So "Garmin grew 11 percent while the market shrank" is accurate at the company level and slightly misleading at the product level. The premium outdoor flagship line, the one that defines Garmin's reputation, actually softened this quarter. The growth came from the training and everyday-wear side of the portfolio, at price points well below a Fenix.
Both things are true, and together they describe a company that is winning the premium battle on a broader front than its halo product.
The Budget End Is Where the Market Is Bleeding
The 4 percent decline is not distributed evenly, and the pattern explains why Garmin and Apple both grew while the market shrank.
Omdia's read of the same quarter found basic bands down 9 percent against advanced smartwatches up 6 percent. The sub-$200 segment fell 9 percent over 2025 while the $200-and-up band grew.
That is the whole story in two numbers. Cheap trackers are collapsing, and the expensive end is expanding. Anyone whose business is built on volume at low prices is in trouble, which is exactly what Xiaomi's 38 percent drop looks like.
Garmin has no budget line to lose. Its cheapest watches sit above the price point where the collapse is happening, and its average selling price is among the highest in the industry. When the market splits in two, a company that only competes in the growing half does not need to do anything clever. It just needs to not be in the other half.
Apple's Position Is Stranger Than It Looks
Apple grew 14 percent, the fastest in the top five, and still lost the number one spot to Huawei. Both facts are correct because Apple's quarterly shipments swing enormously with its launch calendar, and Q2 is a trough between the spring and fall cycles. The company's 32 percent share in Q4 2025 is the same business, three months later.
That volatility is a structural feature of the iPhone launch cadence, not a sign of weakness. It does, however, make single-quarter comparisons against Huawei unreliable. Huawei's 22 percent came with the help of a subsidy program in its home market, and it has been on an extended run while Apple's newest watches land in Q3 and Q4.
For Garmin, the relevance is simpler. Apple is not Garmin's problem in the premium outdoor segment, Samsung is not Garmin's problem there either given its 13 percent decline in North America, and Huawei's growth is concentrated in a market where Garmin has always been a niche player. Garmin's competition at the top of the price range is mostly itself, COROS, and whichever Garmin you already own.
What This Sets Up for the Rest of 2026
A few things follow from the quarter.
The premium tier is where the demand is, and every serious player now knows it. The pressure on the sub-$200 segment will push whatever remains of that market toward either consolidation or exit, and the brands without a premium story will keep shrinking.
For Garmin specifically, the interesting question is whether the Outdoor decline is a blip or a trend. The Fenix 9 generation launched August 25, so Q3 and Q4 will show whether a new flagship reverses it, and the CIRQA band is too new to have contributed meaningfully in Q2 despite selling through its initial stock.
The other thing worth watching is whether the premium end can keep growing if the entry level keeps shrinking. Every category that splits like this eventually runs out of new buyers to graduate upward, because the cheap product was how people entered the market in the first place.
Bottom Line
Global smartwatch shipments fell 4 percent in Q2 2026, the first decline in a year, and Garmin grew 11 percent to a 5.6 percent share anyway. The reason is not that Garmin out-engineered the market. It is that the decline is concentrated in cheap trackers, which fell 9 percent while advanced smartwatches grew 6 percent, and Garmin does not sell cheap trackers.
The nuance worth holding onto: Garmin's own Fitness segment grew 25 percent while Outdoor, home of the Fenix, slipped 2 percent. Garmin's quarter was excellent. The Fenix line's quarter was not the reason why.
Sources: Counterpoint Research's Global Smartwatch Shipments Market Share quarterly insight for Q2 2026 published August 26, 2026, including its brand share table and regional commentary; Garmin Ltd.'s second quarter 2026 results announcement and earnings materials including segment revenue, operating income and full-year guidance; Omdia's Q2 2026 wearable shipment data on basic bands versus advanced smartwatches; and reporting from 9to5Mac, Ubergizmo and Sammy Fans on the Counterpoint figures for Huawei, Apple and Xiaomi.