Taking over from mobile phones, smart wearables are becoming the new engine in the consumer electronics market.

In the first quarter of 2025, Huawei surpassed Apple for the first time and topped the global wrist - worn device market. This is not only a change in market share but also a sign of the growing influence of Chinese technology brands in the global smart wearable industry.

It's also worth mentioning that while the growth of mobile phones, the mainstay of the consumer electronics market, is sluggish, smart wearable devices with a market size of hundreds of billions of dollars seem to be becoming the next potential hot spot to detonate the market.

Why do smart wearable devices have such great potential?

First of all, with the progress of miniaturization and high - precision sensor technology, smart wearable devices can capture body data in real - time without interfering with users' daily activities. From monitoring heart rate and blood oxygen to recognizing emotions and predicting fatigue, from recording exercise tracks to enhancing augmented reality experiences, these devices allow us to "see" the changes inside our bodies, "understand" the subtle signals in the environment, and "perceive" information that was previously imperceptible.

Secondly, the significant improvement in battery life has greatly enhanced the user experience. Whether it's long - term outdoor sports, continuous health monitoring, or all - day emotion tracking, the battery life enables wearable devices to provide stable services for users.

In addition, in recent years, people's attention to their own health has significantly increased, especially in the post - pandemic era, which has promoted the wide application of wearable devices in health monitoring.

Overall, the smart wearable device is a typical track where technology and consumption are deeply integrated. It not only integrates cutting - edge technologies such as sensor technology, artificial intelligence, flexible materials, and low - power chips but also deeply embeds into multiple consumption scenarios such as sports monitoring, health management, and fashionable wearing.

This article will focus on the following core questions: Why are smart wearable devices so popular? What are the unique advantages of the Chinese market? What are the expected development trends in the future? By analyzing these questions, we can better understand the innovation opportunities and development potential of the smart wearable industry.

/ 01 / Smart Wearable Devices: A Major Track for the Integration of Technology and Consumption

Nowadays, smart wearable devices can be seen in multiple fields such as health management, fitness, entertainment and travel, fashionable dressing, and payment and finance.

Smart wearable devices come in various forms, mainly including: wrist - worn devices (such as smart watches, smart bracelets, and fitness trackers), eye - worn devices (such as smart glasses), head - worn devices (such as smart earphones, AR/VR headsets), and experimental clothing - type devices (such as smart clothing and smart shoes).

The "smart" in smart wearable devices means that these devices are equipped with sensors, algorithms, and various high - tech technologies, and have the ability to perceive, calculate, and provide feedback. However, what really makes smart wearable devices stand out is their unique "wearable attribute". This means that these devices are no longer tools on the desktop or in the hand but "digital companions" that are directly attached to the human body and worn around.

In the entire consumer electronics industry, smart wearable devices are one of the fastest - growing categories. According to data released by institutions such as the Forward - looking Industry Research Institute and the China Research and Consulting Network, the current global market size of smart wearable devices has reached approximately $100 billion, and the domestic market has also exceeded 100 billion yuan. According to the forecast of the research institution Precedence Research, by 2034, the global scale of the entire smart wearable market will exceed $430 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of about 20%.

Currently, there are several key technological and demand - driven factors behind the rapid development of smart wearable devices:

One is the progress of sensor technology. Boosted by increasingly precise sensors, smart wearable devices can collect multi - dimensional health data such as heart rate, blood oxygen, and sleep in real - time with a smaller volume and higher accuracy.

Two is the improvement of battery life. This enables wearable devices to achieve a longer usage time on the basis of a thin and light design, significantly optimizing the user experience.

Three is the upgrade of users' health needs. After the pandemic, users' willingness to actively monitor their physical status has increased, promoting the implementation of wearable devices in more health - related scenarios.

The breakthroughs in these underlying technologies and the growth of market demand together form a solid foundation for the rapid rise of smart wearable devices.

Ultimately, the high - speed growth in the field of smart wearable devices reflects consumers' dual pursuit of "intelligent hardware" and "convenient life". People are no longer satisfied with using devices passively but hope that these devices can actively understand and adapt to themselves and become an indispensable part of life.

/ 02 / The Development History of the Smart Wearable Industry

If we look back at the development history of the smart wearable industry, we will find that one of the core driving forces behind the continuous progress of this industry is actually the innate curiosity of human beings. It is the "flashes of inspiration" when people face real - world problems - for example, how to record exercise data more accurately, how to ensure safety in extreme environments, and how to change the way of human - machine interaction with a pair of glasses - that have given rise to many creative wearable application scenarios.

I. The Germination Period: From the Laboratory to Daily Life Scenarios

As early as the 1960s, the concept of smart wearables began to emerge. At that time, some professors and inventors in the United States had already started preliminary attempts. In 1961, Edward Thorpe, a mathematics professor at MIT, collaborated with Claude Shannon, the father of information theory, to develop the world's first wearable computer - a small device hidden in shoes, used to predict the results of roulette gambling. This was not only the starting point of smart wearables but also laid the foundation for future technological evolution.

In the 1970s, smart wearable devices gradually moved out of the laboratory and began to integrate into daily life. In 1975, Hamilton Watch Company launched the Pulsar watch, which had a basic calculator built - in, allowing users to perform simple calculations through buttons. This wearable watch targeting the mass market marked an important step in the consumerization of smart wearables.

In the 1980s and 1990s, with the progress of electronic technology, more diverse products began to appear - the concept of head - mounted cameras emerged, becoming the predecessors of today's action cameras such as Insta360 and GoPro; the early prototypes of Bluetooth earphones were also explored; and the prototype of smart glasses emerged. It's worth mentioning that in 1999, Steve Mann, the "father of wearable computing", developed miniaturized smart glasses, thirteen years earlier than Google Glass.

The miniaturized smart glasses developed by Steve Mann, the "father of wearable computing", and the smart glasses released by Google. Image source: ifanr

Although smart wearables were still in a sporadic exploration stage during this period, they already showed promising innovation potential.

II. Breakthroughs and Accumulation: A New Starting Point after the Millennium

What really enabled the smart wearable device industry to achieve leap - forward development were a series of key breakthroughs after 2000. These breakthroughs not only promoted the diversification of product forms but also laid a solid foundation for subsequent technological progress and market expansion.

1. Innovation in Design Concepts

In 2001, Apple launched the iPod. Although this small and portable music player was not a strictly defined wearable device, its design concept provided important inspiration for later smart wearable devices. The iPod weighed about 184 grams, could hold up to 1000 songs, and had a battery life of about 10 hours, completely changing the way people listened to music. The portability and user - friendliness of the iPod became the core elements of subsequent smart wearable device designs.

The iPod launched by Apple. Image source: Apple's official website

2. Expansion into Professional Sports Scenarios

In 2003, Garmin, originally focused on military GPS systems, was the first to introduce navigation functions into personal wearable scenarios and launched a wrist - worn GPS device for ordinary users, specifically designed for outdoor runners. The reason for launching this watch was that an engineer at Garmin who loved running had a sudden inspiration during a test and tied a GPS device to his wrist. He unexpectedly found that the display of distance and speed was quite good. This "flash of inspiration" paved the way for the adoption of positioning and motion tracking functions in subsequent smart watches.

Garmin smart watch. Image source: Garmin

In 2004, GoPro further evolved the concept of head - mounted cameras and launched a wrist - worn camera device suitable for various extreme sports, becoming a pioneer in the field of wearable image recording. This innovation filled the gap in extreme sports image recording.

3. The Beginning of the Mobile Internet Era

In 2007, Apple launched the iPhone with multi - touch and iOS, kicking off the mobile Internet era. Generation after generation of iPhones not only redefined smartphones but also greatly expanded the functions and application scenarios of wearable devices through seamless connection with them. Through wireless technologies such as Bluetooth and Wi - Fi, wearable devices can leverage the powerful functions of mobile phones to achieve more complex application scenarios. For example, smart watches can synchronize phone notifications, manage health data, and even control smart home devices.

About two years after the release of the first - generation iPhone, in 2009, Fitbit released the fitness tracker - Fitbit Tracker. Users can connect the Fitbit Tracker to their smartphones via Bluetooth to obtain detailed data including moving distance, steps, calorie consumption, and active time of the body.

III. Moving towards the Mass Market: The Explosion Period in the 2010s

In the second decade of the 21st century, smart wearable devices entered a real explosion period, gradually moving from experimental products to the mainstream consumer market.

According to data from research institutions such as IMS Research, Research and Markets, and Gartner, from 2011 to 2020, the global market size of the wearable industry increased dozens of times, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 43%. Specifically, in 2011, the global wearable technology market's operating income was about $2 billion. After that, the market continued to grow strongly, and by 2020, the market size had reached as high as $52 billion.

The year 2012 was a year when new products in the smart wearable industry emerged continuously.

In this year, Pebble raised more than $10 million through the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform and released a smart watch. This watch used a black - and - white e - ink screen and had functions such as incoming call reminders, email notifications, and social media updates, which was a revolutionary product at that time.

Pebble watch. Image source: Pinwan

In the same year, Google released Google Glass, although Google Glass was announced to be discontinued three years later. However, the integrated camera and GPS functions of Google Glass expanded outdoor scenarios for smart glasses. For example, performing regular operations through the touch area on the temple is still one of the mainstream interaction methods in the industry today.

Also in 2012, Facebook, the predecessor of Meta, acquired Oculus and released its first - generation VR headset device. Although it was bulky and had limited experience, it marked the official start of the integration of virtual reality and wearable devices.

What really brought smart wearables into the public view was the release of Apple Watch in 2014. This product not only represented the peak of industrial design and technology integration at that time but also gradually pushed smart wearables from an experimental product in a niche geek circle to the mass consumer market. Since then, the entire smart wearable industry has entered a stage of rapid development, with various new products emerging one after another and application scenarios constantly expanding.

The first - generation Apple Watch. Image source: Business Insider

/ 03 / Wrist - Worn Devices: The "Main Force" in the Smart Wearable Field

After decades of technological accumulation and market cultivation, wrist - worn devices represented by smart watches and smart bracelets have become the "main force" in the entire smart wearable field. According to data released by consulting firm IDC and data company Statista, in 2024, the global shipment of wrist - worn devices reached 190 million units, accounting for more than 30% of the total shipment of the smart wearable market.

With the progress of technology and changes in market demand, the pattern of the wrist - worn market is undergoing significant changes. The "established" giant Apple is being "besieged on all sides" by Chinese enterprises such as Huawei and Xiaomi.

Image source: IDC Consulting

According to the "Quarterly Tracking Report of the Global Wearable Device Market" released by consulting firm IDC, in the first quarter of 2025, Huawei surpassed Apple and ranked first in the global wrist - worn device market with a shipment of 10 million units, with a market share of over 20%. Right behind is Xiaomi, which firmly holds the second place thanks to its strong growth in the Chinese market. Although Apple still maintains a good development momentum in other global markets, it faces certain competitive pressure in the Chinese market, especially in the cost - effective segment outside the high - end market.

From an overall trend perspective, the Chinese wrist - worn device market is expected to continue its high - speed growth in 2025. Data released by IDC shows that in the first quarter of 2025, the shipment of smart watches in the Chinese market increased by about 25% year - on - year, and the growth rate of smart bracelets even reached nearly 70%.

I. Behind the High - Speed Growth of the Chinese Market

There are three key driving factors behind the high - speed growth of the Chinese wrist - worn device market:

First, policy support has played an obvious role in promoting. Since January 2025, the national subsidy policy (referred to as the "national subsidy") has officially included products such as mobile phones, tablets, smart watches, and bracelets in the subsidy scope. This measure has greatly stimulated consumers' willingness to buy and directly driven the sales growth of related product categories.

Second, the sinking market has become a force that cannot