Pixel Watch helps Google reach second place in wearable market

Many have been waiting years for Google to finally release a smartwatch, and it looks like a lot of people feel the Pixel Watch was worth the wait.

Canalys, an industry analyst company, reports Google shipped 880,000 Pixel Watch units in Q4 2022, the first three months of the smart watch’s availability. According to Canalys, this brings Google to second place in the smartwatch market by giving it 8 percent share. While this is behind Apple’s massive lead of 28 percent, it’s still surpasses Samsung’s 5.9 percent share.

Image credit: Canalys

However, it’s important to point out Google doesn’t only offer the Pixel Watch. The tech giant’s wearable lineup also includes Fitbit devices, which comprise most of the four million units the company sold in Q4 2022.

Apple, on the other hand, shipped slightly under 14 million smartwatches, and Samsung, Huawei and Xiaomi hit roughly three million units.

Canalys indicates that overall, wearable shipments have been dropping 18 percent year-over-year. Samsung saw a 35 percent drop, Apple a 17 percent drop and Google even experienced 25 percent drop. The Pixel Watch did boost Google’s sales by 16 percent, though.

With all of this in mind, the Pixel Watch app strangely only has 500,000 installs, according to the Play Store, which is less than the number of Pixel Watch units sold.