Japanese Watchmakers Lift Sales to ¥585 Billion, Beating Swiss Margins in Smartwatch Battleground
Updated
Updated · Notebookcheck.net · Aug 9
Japanese Watchmakers Lift Sales to ¥585 Billion, Beating Swiss Margins in Smartwatch Battleground
3 articles · Updated · Notebookcheck.net · Aug 9
Summary
Seiko, Citizen and Casio generated a combined ¥585 billion in watch sales in the year ended March 2026, with Seiko up 27%, Citizen up 10% and Casio nearly 19%.
Profitability also outpaced Swiss peers: Seiko’s watch division posted a 15.1% operating margin, while Citizen’s watch operating profit rose 38%, versus 4.5% at Swatch Group and 3.2% at Richemont.
That growth came in the price bands smartwatches were expected to dominate, with Japanese brands leaning on durability and low-maintenance appeal; Casio said strong G-Shock demand even caused inventory shortages.
Swiss watchmakers took the opposite path, with 2025 export value slipping 1.7% to CHF 24.4 billion and unit volumes falling 4.8% to 14.6 million as demand concentrated above CHF 3,000.
Smartwatches no longer look like an unstoppable threat either: global shipments fell 2% in Q1 2025 before full-year growth recovered to 4%, suggesting the market has plateaued while traditional watches split into luxury, durable and niche uses.