Huawei’s Japanese unit recently released a round smartwatch for business users.
“Since Japanese consumers are discerning, being accepted in Japan would lead to more success globally,” said Yang Tao, who oversees the company’s devices segment.
Affordability is a selling point for Huawei smartwatches. The latest product is priced at ¥27,280 (US$203), while the competing Apple Watch starts at ¥37,800. Some Huawei smartwatches have a price tag below ¥10,000.
Huawei’s line-up consists of roughly 15 items, ranging from watches for business use to fitness tracker bands, compared with Apple’s three models.
“We will build on our market superiority by putting out new products in the thin band category,” Yang said.
Huawei apparently shifted focus to smartwatches, which can be made with off-the-shelf semiconductors, after the US in 2020 enacted export restrictions that limit the company’s access to advanced chips. Smartwatches can get by without using advanced chips, unlike smartphones, which need to improve in performance every year.
“Chips used in smartwatches are different from those used in smartphones, since one of the key requirements is energy efficiency,” said Hideaki Yokota, head of research at the Tokyo-based MM Research Institute.
A record 3.43 million smartwatches were sold in Japan in fiscal 2021, up 49.6% from the prior year, MM Research Institute reports. The market grew as consumers became more health conscious amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Apple dominates the market with a share topping 60%. But Huawei sold 353,000 units to rank third with a 10.3% share, roughly tripling its sales from 122,000 units in fiscal 2020.
Chinese compatriot Xiaomi also made strides in Japan, surpassing Samsung Electronics to take fifth place. Xiaomi’s Smart Band 7 is a top seller at the Bic Camera volume electronics store in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district. The product measures heart rate and blood oxygen levels and also monitors sleep patterns, yet carries a low price of ¥6,990. It also can run for two weeks on a charge.
“Having fewer functions than the Apple Watch has allowed this product to save power,” Yokota said.
Meanwhile, Apple aims to differentiate itself by releasing high-end models for use outdoors. A product that debuted in September can operate in temperatures from minus 20 degrees to 55 degrees Celsius, and has improved water resistance. It starts at ¥124,800, more than double the price of existing models.
Google unit Fitbit focuses on corporate clients – a segment in which Chinese products struggle – with more than 600 companies having adopted Fitbit watches as of November.
Japanese manufacturers are not idle. Casio released a G-shock watch running Google’s operating system for the first time last year.
But Japanese players are nowhere to be found at the top of the rankings. They “were unable to catch up because foreign smartphone makers were quick to release smartwatches with good value for the money,” Yokota said.
Japan’s smartwatch market is projected to almost double from the fiscal 2021 level to 6.39 million units in fiscal 2026, MM Research Institute said. With Apple and Chinese companies strengthening their presence in Japan’s overall electronics market, Japanese players will need to offer original products and services.
Chinese players also struggle in bundling with smartphones. Apple touts how its Apple Watches work together with iPhones, but Huawei and Xiaomi are not strong in Japan’s smartphone market. Since smartphones serve as the core product in electronics ecosystems, a weakness in smartphones can hurt smartwatch sales.