In the third quarter of 2021, Wear OS shipments reached 17 percent of all smartwatches. That's a strong number two finish behind Apple Watch OS at 22 percent. It's also a huge boost over the four percent number of the previous two quarters. Samsung has reason to celebrate, too. The move to Wear OS has helped to increase Samsung's share of the market. It has overtaken Huawei this year, rising to the number two brand after Apple.
Apple's share of the market has dropped 10 percent over the past year, but the reason for that is clear. Apple was unable to launch its Series 7 watch alongside the new iPhones. The delayed device launched in the fourth quarter, so those numbers are not included in the report. It's likely Apple's new watch will give it a boost in the fourth quarter, and that could make Samsung's year-end totals less impressive.
Still, this is a turn-around for Wear OS, which is something Google desperately needed. Now it has to capitalize on it. Hopefully, Google doesn't squander its second chance to be prominent in wearables like it did the first time.
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