India smartwatch market logs record shipments, local brands lead

New Delhi: Led by domestic brands like Noise and boAt, the smartwatch market in India saw its record shipments in the third quarter (Q3) this year with a 159 per cent (on-quarter) growth, a new report showed on Tuesday.

In the year-on-year (YoY) terms, the growth was 293 per cent and top three brands contributed to almost two-thirds of the total market.

The growth can be attributed to promotions across various platforms along with new launches, which contributed to around 28 per cent of the total market in terms of shipments, according to market research firm Counterpoint Research.

“The market remained competitive in Q3 2021 with Noise and boat together capturing almost 50 per cent of it. Fire-Boltt, Apple and realme emerged as the fastest growing brands during the quarter,” said senior research analyst Anshika Jain.

Domestic brands captured around 75 per cent of the Indian smartwatch market in Q3, compared to 38 per cent in Q3 2020.

“This is the highest contribution from the Indian players so far. The strategy of celebrity endorsements, introductory pricing schemes, discount offers, affordable and feature-rich devices and increasing the frequency of new launches has worked well for the Indian brands,” said Jain.

The country is also witnessing a steep decline in the average selling price of a smartwatch.

“It has almost halved from the level a year back. More than 90 per cent of the market now falls under Rs 10,000 category, with Rs 2,500-Rs 3,000 being the most competitive segment and contributing to around 40 per cent of the overall market,” said research associate Harshit Rastogi.

With new launches coming at even lower prices, the market under Rs 2,000 is expected to witness higher growth in the coming months, the report noted.