Apple Watch Holds 90% of Edge‑AI Smartwatch Shipments in Q1 2026

Counterpoint Research reports that Apple Watch accounted for roughly 90 % of all Edge‑AI‑capable smartwatch shipments worldwide in the first quarter of 2026. Edge‑AI smartwatches – devices that run machine‑learning tasks on‑device – represented 25 % of total global smartwatch shipments, a 70 % year‑on‑year increase. Apple’s share stems from its custom S9‑based Neural Engine, first introduced in 2023, which powers health features such as fall detection, irregular‑heartbeat alerts, blood‑pressure monitoring and sleep‑apnea detection without sending data to the cloud. Apple’s overall smartwatch shipments grew 21 % YoY, giving the company a 23 % share of the broader market.

Competing makers are beginning to narrow the gap. Huawei launched its Kirin W80 wearable processor in 2025, Qualcomm is preparing the Snapdragon Wear Elite platform, and Google is developing a Tensor‑based chip for future wearables. Software‑only approaches, such as Ambiq’s Apollo architecture using Arm’s Helium extensions, are also being explored to bring Edge‑AI to lower‑cost devices.

The rapid adoption of on‑device AI is reshaping the wearable market, accelerating the rollout of advanced health monitoring and improving privacy and battery life for users.