Seiko and Citizen Movement Shortages: What Can Small Watch Brands Do?

Over the past decade, Seiko NH35, NH34, and MIYOTA 9015, 9039 have almost become the preferred custom watch options for many micro-brand manufacturers.

The reasons are straightforward: high international recognition, mature structure, abundant maintenance information, and compared to Swiss solutions like Sellita SW200, it is easier to keep the entire watch within the price range that micro-brand consumers can afford.

But by 2026, the problem faced by many small and micro brands has shifted from choosing which Japanese movement to: Can they still get the movement at the original price and time?

The market continues to show the feedback of price increase, delivery time extension and difficulty in purchasing some models of NH series and MIYOTA 9 series. Japanese Movement Shortages are changing the logic of movement procurement used by micro brands in the past.

Ⅰ. How Are NH35 and Miyota Movement Supply Issues Affecting Microbrands?

The first to be affected by the shortage is the cash flow and new product plans of small brands.

Large brands can plan their inventory in advance, but many microbrands only produce tens to hundreds of pieces at a time.

If the case, dial, pointer and even packaging has been completed, and finally can not get the specified movement, the whole batch of products are likely to stop in the last production link.

In the market, brands have already purchased NH or MIYOTA in stock at higher prices to fulfill existing orders. In the community, brand representatives have also publicly stated that the supply of the NH3 series and MIYOTA 9 series is tight, and there have been cases where products originally using NH35 were switched to ST2130.

For microbrands, this is not only about needing to purchase Japanese movements at high prices, but also further affecting the retail price, profit margin, launch time, and subsequent restocking.

Ⅱ. Why Can Watch Movement Availability Become Unpredictable?

A common statement is: "Japanese manufacturers have reserved movements for their own watches."

But public data do show that demand in Japan's finished watch business is growing fast, with demand for NH and MIYOTA movements outperforming supply.

Seiko's FY2025 public financial report shows that as of March 2026, its group sales reached 335.7 billion yen, an increase of 10.2% year-on-year, and operating profit increased by 45.4%; among them, Watches Business sales reached 203.1 billion yen, and operating profit was 27 billion yen. At the same time, Seiko disclosed that its externally sold watch movements were basically the same as the previous year.

This indicates a very important phenomenon:

‘The supply of third-party movements does not show a significant decline, but Seiko's own watch business is expanding rapidly.’

In the 2026 financial report Q&A, the company clearly stated that the production capacity of mid-range mechanical watches has approached its upper limit. If demand continues to grow rapidly, product shortages cannot be completely ruled out and capacity is being increased by expanding in-house manufacturing as well as external parts collaborations.

So, the current supply pressure is more like:

Demand growth + Limited production capacity + Channel inventory + Brands' advance stockpiling

Ⅲ. What Do Official Lead Times Tell Buyers About Miyota Availability?

Has MIYOTA really been scheduled for more than a year?

It is particularly important to distinguish between the official delivery time and the actual purchase delivery time.

The current public information on the MIYOTA website for model 9015 still shows that the minimum order quantity for each model is 1,000 pieces, and the official delivery time for production based on orders is more than 2 months.

In addition, MIYOTA did issue a production suspension announcement in April 2026, but it involved GL17, GM17, some Multi-Function and Chronograph models, not MIYOTA 9015 or the entire 9 Series mechanical movement.

Therefore, called on the market to a year or longer, better understood as a certain distribution channels, quota, spot and actual delivery pressure order environment, rather than MIYOTA announced the official uniform standard delivery.

But for micro brand, in the end, is still really important: you can now take the arrival of the goods according to the plan.

Ⅳ Can Chinese Watch Movements Replace NH35 or Miyota Calibers?

How about the PT5000? Is the Sea-Gull ST2130 easy to maintain? How stable is Peacock? Can it replace NH35 or MIYOTA 9015?

An overseas maintenance enthusiast publicly shared that he bought about 75 low-priced malfunctioning Chinese movements for dismantling and repairing within a year.

Among the samples he disassembled and repaired, the problems he noted mainly concerned calibration, lever positions, and the broken dial feet and pinions of the watches. No severe wear or catastrophic failure of the automatic winding mechanism of PT5000 or ST2130 was found.

The quality of Chinese movements is likely to come from different factories' adjustments. Users from overseas should choose watch factories with strong capabilities.

Overseas users began to study Chinese movements from the perspective of real maintenance, structure and performance, instead of simply judging the quality by the origin, they began to consider alternatives.

Ⅴ. Why Replacing a Watch Movement Requires Engineering Validation

NH35, MIYOTA 9015, PT5000 and ST2130 are not exactly the same in terms of size, thickness, handle shaft, pointer diameter and fixation method.

Therefore, replacing the movement often means reconfirming the internal parameters.

Re-sample → Calibration → Assembly test → Function test → Water resistance test → Small batch verification → Re-production.

Ⅵ. What should small brand companies do now?

Firstly, don't wait until the inventory runs out before purchasing the movement.

For core SKUs that have stable sales, a certain safety stock can be established based on the actual production cycle.

If the Japanese Movement itself is an important selling point for your brand, you can continue to lock in NH or MIYOTA supplies in advance.

But if consumers are buying design, look, price, and overall performance, then solutions like Sea-Gull, Peacock, and PT5000 are worth testing ahead of time, rather than waiting for stockout to happen.

Thirdly, don't let a product be completely locked by a single movement.

The selection of the movement is shifting from brand selection to supply chain selection.

For a more stable mechanical watch brand in the future, it may need to consider:

Movement performance, market acceptance, purchase price, supply stability, alternatives and follow-up maintenance.

Japanese movements still have a mature market foundation, while Chinese movements are also receiving more practical applications and attention from overseas users.

FOKSY can provide watch solutions for Japanese, Chinese and other movements according to the positioning of different brands, and confirm the supply, structure matching and stock planning in advance in the stage of new product development and replenishing.