India Wearables Market Grew 94% in Q3 2021, Led By Homegrown Brands: IDC

India’s wearables market grew by 93.8 per cent year-over-year (YoY) in Q3 of 2021, with homegrown brands Noise, Boat, Titan and Fire-Boltt taking the lead in the wearables category.

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New Delhi: India’s wearables market grew by 93.8 per cent year-over-year (YoY) in Q3 of 2021 (July-Sept) and shipped 23.8 million units, despite the challenges posed by COVID-19-related factors with homegrown brands Noise, Boat, Titan and Fire-Boltt taking the lead in the wearables category, a report by International Data Corporation (IDC) said on Tuesday.

IDC's India Monthly Wearable Device Tracker said despite the logistic challenges and increase in freight costs, vendors remained aggressive in their shipments and were able to manage the inventory for the upcoming month-long festival sales. Shipments in September surpassed 10 million, growing two-fold from the same month last year, resulting in a record quarter for wearable devices in India.

"The proliferation of new entrants in the mass market segment has increased competition, putting a lot of pressure on brands to differentiate in a market that is getting inundated with lookalike products," Jaipal Singh, Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India, said in a statement.

Smartwatches continued to be the fastest-growing category with 4.3 million shipments in 3Q21, while wristbands saw a seventh consecutive quarter of annual decline. Overall wristwear (inclusive of watches and wristbands) crossed the 5 million shipments mark in a single quarter.

Truly Wireless (TWS) devices reached a 39.5 per cent share of earwear in the third quarter, but the market remains dominated by over-the-ear and tethered devices, the report noted. Homegrown brands captured over 2/3 of the watch market with their aggressive offerings and marketing spends on digital platforms.

Noise maintained its lead for the sixth straight quarter with a 26 per cent market share, followed by BoAt with a 23.1 per cent market share.

Fire-Boltt replaced Huami for the third position as its share jumped to 15.3 per cent from 5.5 per cent from a quarter before.

Realme entered the fourth position backed by its newly-launched watches, and Amazfit settled at the fifth position.

"While seasonality made 3Q21 the biggest quarter for wearables, the influx of devices at the entry-level was the key growth factor. Throughout the quarter, Indian vendors were aggressive with their launches and channel expansion," said Anisha Dumbre, Market Analyst, Client Devices, IDC India.