India’s wearables market ships 25.1 million units in 1Q23, growing 80.9% YoY, says IDC

INDIA, 10 May 2023 According to the International Data Corporations (IDC) India Monthly Wearable Device Tracker, 25.1 million wearable units were shipped in India in 1Q23, recording strong growth of 80.9% YoY (YoY). other), but remained stable quarter-over-quarter (quarter-over-quarter). ) after a solid 4T22. The share of connected watches rose to 41.4% from 26.8% a year ago. The headphone category also saw strong growth of 48.5% year-over-year.

Improved supplies, reduced inventory, several new launches and faster portfolio refresh are the main reasons for this healthy growth. Additionally, a long tail of several smaller India-based players (collectively holding >15% share) further intensifies competition and lowers overall ASPs to $22.7 (from $29.5 a year ago) in 1Q23 . The dominance of the online channel remains with a 73.9% share in the overall wearables market.

In the headphone category, TWS’ share is now 63.9% compared to 48.1% a year ago. The transition from chokers to TWS continues from 2022, with ASPs at $12.2 and $20.4 respectively in 1Q23. Improvements in audio quality through ANC/ENC and aesthetic designs will be key differentiators in 2023. Going beyond audio capabilities by incorporating health tracking technology will be essential for sustained growth, says Vikas Sharma , Senior Market Analyst, Wearables, IDC India.

Smartwatches (including basic and advanced) continue to be the fastest growing wearable watch category with 10.4 million shipments, a year-on-year growth of 178.9%. The smartwatch’s ASP was down 42.0% year-over-year to $29.2 (from $50.4 a year ago). The share of basic smartwatches increased to 98.0%, growing 187.4% YoY in 1Q23.

Brands offer a variety of smartwatch models with metal straps/cases, circular dials, rugged finish, and premium designs. Equipped with advanced communication features like LTE, digital payment options, and more accurate sensors/algorithms, brands are attracting new smartwatch consumers and fueling repeat purchases. In 2023, the smartwatch market will surpass 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) retains first place with 25.6% market share, growing 102.4% year-on-year. The Smartwatch category accounted for 28.3% of its overall shipments in 1Q23. It also continues to dominate the TWS segment, with 30.6% market share, growing 81.9% year-on-year. It launched more expensive devices, namely the Lunar series smartwatches, the Rockerz 551 over-ear headphones and the Nirvana ION TWS.

Firebolt ranked second with a 12.4% share in 1Q23 in the overall wearables category. It leads the smartwatch category with a market share of 28.6%, growing 224.2% year-on-year. Affordability and new designs such as webbing/metal wraps have been Fire – Boltt’s main growth drivers.

Nexxbase (Noise) ranks third in all wearables, with 97.3% year-over-year growth and 11.9% market share. The Noise dropped to second place in the smartwatch category with 21.6% market share, growing 157.6% year-on-year. It faced supply constraints in 1Q23. It slipped further to fifth place in the TWS segment with a 6.4% share, growing 27.8% year-on-year. Noise Colorfit Icon Buzz, Colorfit Icon 2 and Colorfit Pulse Go Buzz contributed to more than 25% of its shipments.

Boult Audio was in fourth place with healthy growth of 366.5% YoY and market share of 9.3% in 1Q23. It retained second place in the TWS category with 15.5% market share and 341.2% year-on-year growth. Although it is a new entrant in the smartwatch category, it ranks fifth with 3.2% market share. Boult Drift and Cosmic were its main smartwatch models in 1Q23.

OPPO (includes OnePlus) ranked fifth with a market share of 4.7% and shipments down -5.8% in 1Q23. Lack of new launches led to the decline, however, the Bullets Wireless Z2 Neckband and TWS Enco Buds 2 accounted for over 55% of its shipments.

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

Note –

Wearable devices that come in the form of a wristband or watch and are capable of processing data digitally are considered under the category of wristbands and exclude traditional analog and digital watches.

The Smartwatch category includes advanced smartwatches (eg Apple Watch, Wear OS watches) and basic smartwatches (eg Noise watches, BoAt watches).

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For more information on this report, trends or analyst questions, please contact Shivani Anand, Senior Marketing Specialist atsanand@idc.com . You can also follow IDC IndiasTwitter AndLinkedIn pages for regular updates on IDC research and events.

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