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The Donald Trump administration has reportedly delayed adding Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, memory chipmaker CXMT, and more than 100 other Chinese companies identified as national security risks to a U.S. trade blacklist. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for a strengthened transatlantic partnership on artificial intelligence during a G7 session.

Salesforce, Inc. announced its intent to acquire Fin for $3.6 billion. This acquisition aims to bolster the company's AI agent capabilities. In other deal news, Comtech Telecommunications Corp. disclosed plans to sell most of its Satellite and Space Communications segment to Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. for $157.5 million.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. agreed to acquire AI coding startup Anysphere Inc. in an all-stock deal valued at an implied equity value of $60 billion. Nebius Group N.V. announced that it completed its acquisition of Eigen AI, an inference and model optimization firm.

OpenAI reportedly spent $3.7 billion during the first quarter of 2026 while it generated $5.7 billion in revenue. Noam Shazeer, Vice President of Engineering and Gemini co-lead at Google DeepMind, announced he is leaving to join OpenAI.

Apple Inc. is preparing to raise prices across its product lineup after CEO Tim Cook acknowledged the company can no longer absorb skyrocketing costs for memory and storage components. Nvidia supplier SK Hynix began shipping samples of its latest high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, chips to major customers.

Key Financial Disclosures

Apple Inc. emerged as the strongest performer in the global smartwatch market during the first quarter of 2026, extending its market leadership as demand for its latest watches accelerated. According to a new report by Counterpoint Research, global smartwatch shipments rose 4% year over year in the quarter, supported by Apple's gains and a recovery in China.

Apple Extends Market Leadership

Counterpoint Research reported that Apple captured a 23% share of global smartwatch shipments during the quarter. The company posted the fastest shipment growth among the top 10 smartwatch brands, with shipments rising 21% from a year earlier. Principal Analyst Anshika Jain attributed the gains to Apple's refreshed product lineup.

"Apple has captured the highest shipment share of 23% and emerged as the strongest performer in Q1 2026, driven by the continued success of its refreshed lineup," Jain said. "While North America contributed over half of the total shipments of Apple, China and Europe recorded the fastest growth for the brand. The addition of meaningful health upgrades and the affordable SE 3 attracted new buyers."

China Market Rebounds

China's smartwatch shipments increased 15% year over year, according to Counterpoint Research. The firm attributed the recovery to Huawei's strong market position, government electronics subsidies, and growing demand for locally developed brands. Huawei accounted for about 40% of smartwatch shipments in China during the quarter, followed by Imoo and Xiaomi Corp.

The report noted that consumers showed greater interest in health-focused features such as sleep tracking, emotional well-being monitoring, and arrhythmia analysis.

Premium Features Lift Prices

The average selling price (ASP) of smartwatches increased 6% from a year earlier. Jain stated that higher prices reflected the addition of advanced sensors, AI features, and improved health-monitoring technology.

"Smartwatches' ASP rose by 6% YoY in Q1 2026. The major drivers were the integration of improved sensors and advanced technologies to support health monitoring and AI capabilities," Jain said. "In addition, consumers' transition from basic smartwatches to advanced smartwatches in emerging markets like India is also driving the overall ASP growth."

Outlook Remains Positive

Counterpoint Research noted that the smartwatch market regained momentum in 2025 after slowing in 2024. The firm expects recent memory shortages and broader macroeconomic challenges to weigh slightly on growth in 2026. However, it believes the impact will be smaller than in other consumer electronics categories because premium smartwatches carry higher margins.

The research firm forecasts the global smartwatch market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of about 3% through 2030.