Smartwatches lose steam as India’s wearable market stumbles

Smartwatches

The time does not seem to be right for the Indian wearable market. According to a report by IDC, the wearable device market in India saw a decline for the first time ever. The market declined by 10% year-over-year to 29.5 million units.

It was the smartwatch category, which continued to struggle, declining by 27.4% YoY to 9.3 million units. According to the IDC report, the share of smartwatches within wearables dropped to 31.5% from 39.0% in 2Q23. One of the key reasons behind the decline, as per IDC, is channel inventory, especially of previous generation models. Furthermore, innovation exhaustion is also restricting growth for smartwatches.

The earbuds category fared better as it remained flat, growing by 0.7% YoY with 20.1 million units. It seems like buyers are buying more TWS earbuds than ever as the segment reached a record 71% from 65.5% a year ago, growing by 9.1% YoY.  Wired and over ear headphones declined by by 16.1% with 5.8 million units.

Boat continues to lead the Indian wearables market with 26.7% market share whereas Noise and Boult secured the second and third spot with 13% and 8.1% market share respectively.

“Due to cost pressures, many brands are shifting their focus toward e-tailer channels, particularly during festive periods. While several smaller brands rely on offline channels, the major players remain heavily dependent on online channel,” said Anand Priya Singh, market analyst, Smart Wearable Devices, IDC India.

Smart ring category continues to grow, with more than 72 thousand smart rings shipment in 2Q24, as per the report. Ultrahuman led with a 48.4% share, followed by Pi Ring at 27.5% and Aabo at third with a 10.5% share. IDC expects the launch of more affordable smart rings by incumbent wearable brands during the upcoming festive season in the next few months.