According to a report by a market research firm, smartwatch shipments in India have declined for the first time since 2018, while the true wireless stereo (TWS) segment has seen sharp growth. Smartwatch market share declined while the wristband category grew by 17.5 percent year-on-year (YoY). While there was an overall decline in shipments, Boat emerged as the top overall wearable brand in the first quarter of 2024 with a 23.9 percent market share, topping other brands like Noise, Fire-Bolt, and Bolt.
Decline in smartwatch shipments
According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) India Monthly Wearable Device Tracker, the number of TWS shipped in India increased from 14.6 million in Q1 2023 to 15.8 million in Q1 2024. Smartwatch shipments, on the other hand, declined from 10.3 million units to 9.6 million in Q1 2023 – a decline of 7.3 percent year-on-year.
The report attributes this decline to excess inventory acquired from festive sales during the second half of 2023 as well as fewer launches in 2024. The share of advanced smartwatches – which also includes offerings from Apple and Samsung – grew by 2.0 per cent, it said. According to the report 3.2 percent.
“The smartwatch market in India is showing early signs of a slowdown. Sellers are facing challenges in enticing customers to upgrade due to limited innovation and freshness in new models. Vikas Sharma, senior market analyst (smart wearable devices), IDC India, said in a prepared statement.
New categories of wearables have emerged
According to the latest report from IDC, other wearables such as smart rings and smart glasses saw the most growth. It grew from just 100 shipments in Q1 2023 to nearly 69000 units in Q1 2024 – an increase of 46399.3 percent.
According to the IDC report, Ultrahuman finished as the top smart ring maker of the period with 43.9 percent market share, followed by Pi Ring in second place with 40.1 percent share. Bot, Noise, Fire-Bolt, Bolt and Oppo emerged as the top five vendors with a collective market share of 59.9 percent.
Interestingly, the share of shipments from offline channels increased from 26.1 percent in Q1 2023 to 37.9 percent in Q1 2024, according to the report. On the other hand, online channel shipments witnessed a decline of 14.1 per cent for the second consecutive quarter.
