Showing a full recovery from Covid-19, global smartwatch shipments in the second quarter of this year increased 27 per cent compared to the same period last year, with Apple maintaining its top position in terms of shipments, a new report showed on Thursday.

The user base of Apple Watch has crossed 100 million globally.  "Apple's ecosystem is seeing a greater attach rate as the brand continues to bake in attractive designs, health features and related services around it," said senior analyst Sujeong Lim from Counterpoint Research.

The US continued to be the key Apple Watch market, contributing to more than half of its user base, with an attach rate of close to 30 per cent.

Among the global top 5 smartwatch players, Samsung and Garmin showed a shipment growth of 43 per cent and 62 per cent (YoY), respectively.

Among the top brands, only Huawei fell compared to the same period last year.

The decline in its smartphone business seems to have affected its smartwatch sales, as the smartwatch from such a vertical player is tightly optimised with the brand's smartphones and the users' loyalty to the brand's ecosystem of offerings.

"The pandemic has further pushed consumers towards being more health-conscious and features such as SPO2 and heart rate monitoring have trickled down to the sub-$100 smartwatch segment," said Lim.

India was the smallest market in the second quarter of last year, accounting for less than 2 per cent of the total market, but its share increased to 6 per cent in just one year.

"The proliferation of sub-$100 affordable, feature-rich smartwatches from Chinese brands such as Xiaomi, realme and OPPO, and Indian brands such as boAt and Noise has been one of the key growth drivers," said senior analyst Anshika Jain.