Market researcher: Apple Watch dominates the market for “Edge AI smartwatches” | News

Apple has been using machine learning (ML) for the Apple Watch for many years. This special form of artificial intelligence (AI) is used, for example, in a number of health and fitness features of networked watches, but also in Siri and gesture control. The smartwatches from Cupertino have a neural engine that carries out these tasks locally. In certain cases, an Apple Watch also delegates the calculation to the iPhone that is paired with it. However, cloud services do not currently have to be used in either case, which ensures, among other things, a high level of data protection.

Market share of “Edge AI Smartwatches” has grown significantly
Counterpoint Research classifies watches with such AI capabilities as “Edge AI Smartwatches.” The market research company has now taken another look at the market for such devices and identified a trend: the market share of models with at least one local ML function has grown significantly in the past twelve months, by an impressive 70 percent. While 15 out of 100 smartwatches sold in the first quarter of 2025 were equipped accordingly, the value rose to a quarter in the first three months of the current year. Counterpoint analyst Anshika Jain comments on the results of the current study that manufacturers have continuously improved the hardware of their devices and added AI functions.

Apple Watch: 90 percent market share in this device category
Counterpoint Research attributes the increasing success of Edge AI smartwatches to increased demand from customers. These called for more useful health and fitness features that go beyond simple functions such as pedometers, heart rate measurement and sleep duration determination. Apple has developed a major technical lead in these areas in particular, in terms of both hardware and software. The company is therefore reaping the rewards of its efforts when it comes to AI-enabled watches: 90 percent of all Edge AI smartwatches sold in the first quarter of 2026 were an Apple Watch. However, the competitors could catch up a little in the near future, at least with regard to the Neural Engine: According to Counterpoint Research, more powerful chips for Android watches are being launched with the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear Elite and other SoCs. The market share of Edge AI smartwatches is expected to increase to 32 percent this year, according to market researchers.