India wearables mkt grows 56.4% YoY; 37.2 mn units shipped in Q3FY22: IDC

India’s wearable market grew at a record 56.4 per cent YoY (year on year), shipping 37.2 million units in the third quarter of 2022 (July-September), according to a recent report.

Data from the International Data Corporation’s (IDC) Indian Monthly Wearable Device Tracker shows that the wearables market was led by BoAt, with 32.1 per cent market share, followed by Noise (13.8 per cent) and Fire-Boltt (8.9 per cent).

OnePlus was in fourth place with 8.2 per cent market share while Realme took the fifth spot.

Smartwatches remained the fastest-growing category, recording 178 per cent YoY growth while earwear accounted for 67.3 per cent of the overall wearables category.

Heavy discounting and offers were rolled out during online sales events amid the festival season, resulting in a 13.6 per cent YoY decline in average selling price (ASP) in Q3 of 2022, the report said.

Upasana Joshi, Research Manager, Client Devices at IDC India, attributed the rapid proliferation of wearable devices to the aggressive marketing and price points by India-base vendors, well supported by e-tailers.

“As we exit 2022, IDC estimates India to surpass the USA, to become the second-largest wearables market globally behind only PRC. Additionally, with local manufacturing scaling up, vendors are partnering with Indian ODM’s to take full advantage of government incentives, leading to 30 per cent+ “Made in India” units by the end of 2022,” she said.

Smartwatch (inclusive of basic and advanced) shipments crossed the 12-million mark in this quarter. The smartwatch ASP declined by 30.3 per cent YoY to reach $41.9 (vs $60.0 a year back), the report said.

Basic smartwatches continue to dominate with a 95.5 per cent share growing by 187.1 per cent annually in Q3. Wristbands saw yet another quarter of annual decline with an 80.8 per cent YoY shipment drop.

“As smartwatches continue to be in high demand across varied customer segments, the need for better specifications/accurate monitoring will be key. We will see bigger screen size (1.8/1.99 inch), AMOLED display, physical or e-Sim connectivity in the affordable segment, while the premium segment moves towards more offerings with curved/edge-to-edge screens & NFC enabled for payment,” said Vikas Sharma, Senior Market Analyst, Client Devices, IDC India.

In terms of earwear, truly wireless (TWS) dominated, with 57.6 per cent share growing by 94.4 per cent YoY. Tethered grew by 2.5 per cent, while over-the-ear declined by more than 50 per cent in Q3 of this year, the report added.