The surge reflects growing consumer demand for advanced health insights and the rollout of low‑power neural accelerators.
Global shipments of Edge AI‑capable smartwatches jumped 70% year‑on‑year in the first quarter of 2026. Picture for illustrative purposes. Picture: The Citizen.
Global shipments of Edge AI‑capable smartwatches jumped 70% year‑on‑year in the first quarter of 2026, reaching 25% market penetration, according to Counterpoint Research’s Global Smartwatch Shipments Tracker.
The surge reflects growing consumer demand for advanced health insights and the rollout of low‑power neural accelerators that enable on‑device processing without draining battery life.
Wearable tech
Principal Analyst Anshika Jain said the trend marks a turning point in wearable technology.
“Brands have been continuously upgrading their smartwatch hardware to make devices more AI‑capable. Edge AI integration enables real‑time health insights and faster responses while helping ensure data privacy.
“Currently, Edge AI penetration remains limited to leading brands, with Apple solely accounting for ~90% of Edge AI smartwatch shipments in Q1 2026,” Jain said.
Edge AI
Edge AI allows watches to run inference locally, analysing heart rate, sleep patterns and temperature in real time.
This has enabled the detection of conditions such as atrial fibrillation, sleep apnoea and elevated blood pressure directly on the device.
According to the report, shipments of smartwatches with blood pressure monitoring doubled in Q1 2026, while those with sleep apnoea detection tripled. Brands are now targeting more complex challenges, including diabetes monitoring.
Chipsets
On the supply side, chipset makers are racing to deepen AI integration. Apple’s S9 chip, launched in 2023, features a 4‑core Neural Engine, while Huawei’s Kirin W80, paired with its ‘Celia’ assistant, arrived in 2025.
Qualcomm has announced the Snapdragon Wear Elite with a dedicated NPU, and Google is preparing Tensor‑based wearable silicon. Ambiq’s Apollo platform, meanwhile, is pushing software‑accelerated inference through Arm Helium vector extensions.
Next phase
Research Director Mohit Agrawal emphasised the next phase.
“Edge AI in smartwatches is shifting from primarily a hardware integration to one that also includes software optimisation.
“The real unlock is smaller, more efficient models and OS‑level access that lets any app run inference locally. AI needs to turn from a single application into a personal layer that works on personal data,” Agrawal said.
Counterpoint forecasts Edge AI penetration in smartwatches will approach 32% by the end of 2026, cementing wearables as intelligent health companions rather than passive trackers.
