Wearables market in India that consists of smartwatches, earbuds, and wristbands grew by 20.1 percent year-on-year (YoY) in the first quarter of 2022, according to a report by IDC. While watches continued to be the fastest-growing category in the quarter between January to March, by shipping 3.7 million units with a growth of 173 percent, wrist bands continued to decline annually for the ninth consecutive quarter. Moreover, Boat, Noise, OnePlus, Fire-Boltt, and Realme emerged among the top five brands in the wearables market in the first quarter.

Market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) latest report says that the average selling price (ASP) of the overall wearables category has declined by 17.1 percent YoY primarily due to a stronger decline in the ASP of watches.

In terms of segments, as mentioned, watches retained their fastest growth in the Indian wearables market with 3.7 million shipments and a growth of 173 percent YoY in the first quarter of 2022. While the basic watches accounted for 95.1 percent of the overall watch category shipments with a growth of 202.1 percent YoY, the smartwatch shipments have declined 4.2 percent annually, as per the report.

Moreover, the overall wristwear segment (which includes watches and wrist bands) has witnessed a growth of 87.5 percent in Q122, with a total shipment of 4 million units.

The earwear segment, on the other hand, grew 48.3 percent YoY and also accounted for 71.3 percent of the overall wearables category in the first quarter.

Photo Credit: screenshot/ IDC

“Aggressive discounts, new features, and a strong push from brands and channel partners are encouraging consumers to upgrade and spend more on wearable watches,” says Anisha Dumbre, Senior Market Analyst, Client Devices, IDC India. “While dependence on devices like TWS and wearable watches is increasing, supply remains a concern for the industry. Intense competition in the sub $50 (roughly Rs.3,880) category is pushing all brands to offer competitive offerings in terms of pricing, features, and device design,” Dumbre added.

Indian brands Boat having 5.2 percent YoY growth with a 22.9 percent market share and Noise having 150.1 percent YoY growth with a 10.9 percent market share captured the top two positions among the top five emerging wearable brands in Q1 2022.

OnePlus, on the other hand, took the third position with a 13.8 percent market share, but was the only player in the top five to register a decline of 35.8 percent YoY in the quarter, the report noted.

Indian brand, Fire-Boltt entered the fourth position with a 6.6 percent market share, while Realme managed to capture fifth place by witnessing a growth of 26.6 percent YoY in Q1 2022.

Photo Credit: screenshot/IDC

“The outlook for 2022 remains strong as wearables will try to attract users in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. The healthy growth is attracting newer players to the market, as brands in the other devices and accessory space are entering,” says Upasana Joshi, Research Manager, IDC India. With the continuing push from the brands, 2Q22 (Apr-Jun) is expected to see healthy YoY growth. The aggressive offers, sales, and marketing around the festive season in 2H22 (Jul-Dec) are expected to continue this growth momentum through the year for the wearable device categories.

She further adds, “With the PLI scheme for wearables announced by the government, key players in the ecosystem have begun foraying into local manufacturing of these devices and launching ‘Made in India’ products, possibly leading to further lowering of the ASPs.”.