India wearable market ships 25.1mn units in 1Q23

According to the International Data Corporation’s (IDC) India Monthly Wearable Device Tracker, 25.1 million wearable units were shipped in India in 1Q23, registering a strong 80.9% YoY (year-over-year) growth but remained flat QoQ (quarter-over-quarter) following a strong 4Q22. Share of the smartwatches grew to 41.4% from 26.8% a year ago. The earwear category also witnessed a strong 48.5% YoY growth.

Improved supplies, leaner inventory, multiple new launches, and faster portfolio refresh are the key reasons for this healthy growth. Additionally, a long tail of several India based small players (collectively holding > 15% share), is further intensifying the competition, and lowering the overall ASPs to US$22.7 (vs US$29.5 a year ago) in 1Q23. The dominance of online channel remains with a share of 73.9% in the overall wearable market.

Within the earwear category, TWS share is now 63.9% from 48.1% a year ago. The transition from neckbands to TWS is continuing from 2022, with ASPs at US$12.2 and US$20.4 respectively in 1Q23. “Enhancements in audio quality through ANC/ENC and aesthetically appealing designs will be key differentiators in 2023. Moving beyond audio capabilities by incorporating health tracking technology will be essential for sustained growth,” says Vikas Sharma, Senior Market Analyst, Wearable Devices, IDC India.

Smartwatch (inclusive of basic and advanced) continues to be the fastest-growing wearable category with 10.4 million shipments, a growth of 178.9% YoY. The smartwatch ASP declined by 42.0% YoY to reach US$29.2 (vs US$50.4 a year back). Basic smartwatch share rose to 98.0% growing by 187.4% annually in 1Q23.

“Brands are bringing a variety of smartwatch models with metal straps/casing, circular dials, rugged finish, and premium designs. Clubbed with advanced communication features like LTE, digital payment options, and more accurate sensors/algorithms, brands are attracting new smartwatch consumers as well as fueling refresh buying. In 2023 smartwatch market will cross 50 million units, up from 30.7 million in 2022,” says Upasana Joshi, Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India.

1Q23 Top 5 Wearable Company Highlights

Imagine Marketing (boAt) maintains the top place with 25.6% share, growing by 102.4% YoY. Smartwatch category accounted for 28.3% of its overall shipment in 1Q23. It also continues to lead the TWS segment, with 30.6% share, growing by 81.9% YoY. It launched higher priced devices namely Lunar Series Smartwatches, Rockerz 551 over the ear headphones & Nirvana ION TWS.

Fire – Boltt stood second at 12.4% share in 1Q23 in the overall wearable category. It leads the smartwatch category with 28.6% share growing by 224.2% YoY. Affordability and new designs like metal straps/casings were the key growth drivers for Fire – Boltt.

Nexxbase (Noise) stood third in overall wearables, growing by 97.3% YoY and 11.9% market share. Noise dropped to second place in the smartwatch category with 21.6% share, growing by 157.6% YoY. It faced supply constraints in 1Q23. It further slipped to fifth slot in TWS segment at 6.4% share growing by 27.8% YoY. Noise Colorfit Icon Buzz, Colorfit Icon 2 & Colorfit Pulse Go Buzz contributed to more than 25% of its shipments.

Boult Audio stood fourth with a healthy 366.5% YoY growth and 9.3% market share in 1Q23. It retained second place in the TWS category with 15.5% share and 341.2% YoY growth. Despite being a new entrant in the smartwatch category, it stood fifth with 3.2% share. Boult Drift and Cosmic were its key smartwatch models in 1Q23.

OPPO (includes OnePlus) stood fifth with 4.7% share and declining shipments with – 5.8% in 1Q23. Absence of any new launches led to the drop, However, the neckband “Bullets Wireless Z2” and TWS “Enco Buds 2” accounted for more than 55% of its shipments.

Others Palred (pTron) and Seminole placed 3rd and 6th position in TWS category with 7.3% & 5.0% share respectively. SRK Powertech (Pebble) moved to 6th position in smartwatch with 187.3% YoY and Ambrane at 7th position in smartwatch with 2.0% share. Brandscale (Wings Lifestyle) ,with gaming centric TWS, gained momentum in 1Q23.