Chinese smartphone firms are quickly gaining share in India's wireless earphones market, challenging the dominance of Indian brands such as BoAt, Boult, and Noise.
The entry of Chinese brands into the budget segment, along with their focus on R&D for better quality, has helped them capture 16 percent of India's True Wireless Stereo (TWS) market in 2024, growing 33 percent from the previous year, the latest data from Counterpoint Research shows.
"Indian and global brands lost some of their market share to Chinese players this year. Realme and Xiaomi contributed to the growth of Chinese brands,” Anshika Jain, senior research analyst at Counterpoint, said.
"As the market gravitates towards the budget-friendly segment, Chinese brands are placing significant emphasis on this price tier to expand their market presence," Jain told Moneycontrol.
Chinese are ‘rocking’ the boat
Analysts expect the Chinese names to grow rapidly in 2025, further eroding the market share of Indian brands. Their strategies include leveraging omnichannel networks and effective marketing tactics.
Popular Chinese brands such as Poco, Vivo, and iQOO, which had limited presence in the TWS market, have now entered the volume-heavy entry-level price segment.
As a result, the budget segment (Rs 1,500- 2,000 or $17-$23) showed the highest growth, with a 52 percent year-on-year increase in 2024.
Realme, OnePlus and Xiaomi are driving their portfolios further into India’s TWS market, which reached over $1.3 billion in 2024, with shipments growing 14 percent year-on-year.
Chinese brands strong performance in 2024 was driven by OnePlus devices like the Nord Buds 2R and Buds 3, Jain said, "Global brands captured the smallest share ever at 6 percent, led by JBL, Nothing-owned CMF, and Apple," she said.
OnePlus and Realme, ranked fourth and fifth in market share by volume, gained share in the December quarter.
Realme was the fastest-growing brand among the top 10 in 2024, clocking 55 percent year-on-year growth due to a portfolio refresh, while OnePlus grew 25 percent, Counterpoint’s data shows.
Indian blues
BoAt, the market leader in the TWS space, faced pressure from the rising number of Chinese shipments, leading to a 4 percent decline in its shipments. Its market share dropped from 39.4 percent in 2023 to 32.9 percent in 2024. Boult and Noise were second and third with 12.9 percent and 9.7 percent share in 2024.
Concerned about Realme's rapid growth, BoAt's parent company, Imagine Marketing, recently requested the government to impose an anti-dumping duty on Chinese audio products.
Analysts suggest that Indian companies, especially BoAt, will face intense competition from Chinese brands such as Realme and OnePlus in 2025, as these brands focus on leveraging their strong omnichannel presence to attract consumers with effective market reach and strategies.
Vikas Sharma, lead analyst for Wearables at IDC India, said Chinese vendors, especially OnePlus and Realme, are intensifying competition with India-based vendors in this category.
“While they were less aggressive earlier, they are expected to gain momentum in 2025 with promising product launches,” he said.
China-based vendors previously faced challenges in the broader wearable category due to high margins set by India-based vendors. Maintaining such large margins was difficult, and sustaining a product ecosystem was also challenging, Sharma said. However, TWS earwear allows Chinese vendors to capitalise on growth and strengthen customer engagement.
“Earwear is the only mature category that continues to see strong demand despite the overall market decline. TWS, being the ideal companion for smartphones, can be easily promoted by China-based smartphone vendors alongside their devices,” Sharma added.
Faisal Kawoosa, founder analyst at TechArc, said while Chinese smartphone revenues are not growing exponentially, these companies are aggressively focusing on strategies beyond handsets to drive revenue and profitability. TWS is one such category which has strong potential.
Sharma said the ecosystem built around smartphones is key to helping Chinese brands rapidly expand their market share in the audio hearables segment.
Jain said in 2025, Chinese brands are anticipated to further advance their noise-cancellation technology, introducing new form factors like open-ear buds and integrating AI capabilities into the affordable segment. "Additionally, seasonal sales events might support their TWS sales through temporary price reductions, bundled offers, and festive discounts."
Analysts expect Chinese brands to expand across cities and towns, giving them an edge over Indian vendors who focus on online channels.
“By continuing to offer well-priced products, Chinese brands can meet consumer needs while strengthening their ecosystem across affordable, mid-range and premium segments,” Sharma said. “With a strong market presence across various channels, they can also bundle these products with smartphones, enhancing their appeal.”
One key factor helping Chinese brands is their deep investment in R&D, which allows them to deliver better products and improve design, colour and materials, which attract consumers.
Analysts also expect Chinese brands to leverage artificial intelligence to enhance their TWS offerings and compete with Indian brands.
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