India shipped 25.1 million wearable units in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023, registering a strong 80.9 per cent YoY (year-over-year) growth, but remained flat QoQ (quarter-over-quarter) following a strong Q4, 2022, a new report said on Wednesday. Share of smartwatches grew to 41.4 per cent from 26.8 per cent a year ago, according to International Data Corporation’s (IDC) India Monthly Wearable Device Tracker.
The earwear category in India also witnessed a strong 48.5 per cent YoY growth.
The growth was attributed to improved supplies, leaner inventory, multiple new launches, and faster portfolio refresh. Additionally, a long tail of several India-based small players (collectively holding > 15 per cent share), is further intensifying the competition, and lowering the overall ASPs to US$22.7 (vs US$29.5 a year ago) in Q1. It should be noted that the dominance of online channels remains with a share of 73.9 per cent in the overall wearable market.
Homegrown company Boat maintained the top place with 25.6 per cent share, growing by 102.4 per cent YoY. The smartwatch category accounted for 28.3 per cent of its overall shipment in this quarter. Fire-Boltt stood second at 12.4 per cent share in the overall wearable category. It lead the smartwatch category with 28.6 per cent share.
“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,” Upasana Joshi, Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India, said in a statement.
Noise stood third in overall wearables, growing by 97.3 per cent YoY with 11.9 per cent market share, followed by Boult Audio with 366.5 per cent YoY growth and 9.3 per cent market share in Q1.
The only non-Indian brand to feature among the top five wearables brands was Oppo (including OnePlus) at the fifth spot with a 4.7 per cent share and declining shipments.