India Wearable Market Ships 100mn Units in 2022, Growing by 47% YoY

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The India wearable market exited 2022 with a strong 46.9% YoY (year-over-year) growth, as shipments reached 100 million units according to the recent data from the International Data Corporation’s (IDC) India Monthly Wearable Device Tracker. 4Q22 (Oct-Dec) saw 25.2 million unit shipments registering a 16.5% YoY growth. The second half of 4Q22 saw a cyclical dip in demand, following high shipments in the first half. The earwear category remained flat, while smartwatches grew by 73.6% YoY in 4Q22.

The second half of the year (Jul-Dec), accounting for more than 60% of the annual shipments, saw several new product launches ahead of the festival season combined with offers/discounts across channels. The share of smartwatches grew from 17.9% in 2021 to 30.7% in 2022.

Smartwatch (inclusive of basic and advanced) shipments were 30.7 million in 2022, a growth of 151.3% YoY. The Smartwatch ASPs continue to decline, at US $42.5 (vs US $61.2 a year ago). Basic smartwatches continue to dominate with a 95.5% share, growing by 158.0% annually in 2022. Wristbands declined for another year with -73.2% YoY, with shipments dropping to half a million.

Earwear category, with the lowest ASP globally at US $19.8, accounts for 68.7% of the overall wearables category with 28.0% YoY shipment growth in 2022. Within earwear, Truly Wireless (TWS) dominates with a 55.3% share growing by 87.1% YoY, tethered grew by meagre 1.9%, while over-the-ear declined by more than 50% in 2022.   

“Vendors faced supply challenges throughout 2022, especially for smartwatches, which are not expected to ease off completely before early 2H23. Local manufacturing is expected to scale up to more than 80% by exit 2023, with more players opting for local sourcing of parts/components,” says Vikas Sharma, Senior Market Analyst, Client Devices, IDC India.

4Q22 Top 5 Wearable Company Highlights

Imagine Marketing (boAt) maintains the lead, but its share dropped to 23.9% in 4Q22 declining by 34.3% YoY. More than 3/4th of its shipments in the earwear segment are for TWS, as it continued to lead with a 32.8% share in 4Q22. Annual shipments grew by 9.3% YoY, at 29.3 million in 2022. Imagine Marketing is planning to increase its presence in the smartwatch category in 2023, which accounted for 19.7% of its overall shipments in 2022.

Nexxbase (Noise) stood second at 11.2% in 4Q22, with 2.8 million shipments, and registered 39.6% growth. It strengthened its smartwatch leadership with a 27.2% share, growing 152.6% annually in 2022. “Colorfit Icon Buzz” and “Colorfit Caliber” were its key models with a million plus shipments, respectively. Diversified product portfolio and promotional activities ensured strong play in the watches segment.

OnePlus climbed to third place in the overall wearable category in 4Q22, growing by 83.0% YoY and 10.2% share. 76.8% of total shipments came from “Bullets Wireless Z2”. OnePlus shipped 8.5 million earwear units and stood second with a 12.4% share.

Fire – Boltt dropped to fourth place, but with a strong 250.0% YoY growth in 4Q22 shipping 2.2 million units. For the year, it stood at second place in the smartwatch segment, with 7.6 million shipments and a 24.8% share in 2022. Multiple launches, celebrity endorsements, and enhanced features at very affordable prices aided in this growth.

Boult Audio at fifth place witnessed a massive share gain to 7.9% with 1.9 million shipments in 4Q22. It is an earwear-focused company with entry-level TWS models, which stood second in the TWS category in 4Q22. For the year, it stood at fourth place in the earwear segment, with a 5.4% share. Boult Audio also forayed into the smartwatch segment around mid-2022.

Others Seminole (Mivi) grew by 2398.1% YoY in the earwear category with almost 1 million shipments, SRK Powertech (Pebble) and Titan at fourth and fifth place in the smartwatch segment with 3.3% and 3.1% share in 4Q2022 respectively.

“To maintain similar growth in 2023, smartwatch vendors would need to remain focused on the entry-level price segment with essentials like Bluetooth calling, higher display brightness (1000+Nits), etc. fresh designs & new segments (like rugged sportswear, kids and elderly watches), enhanced app integration & collaboration with fashion brands with wider presence across large format stores. The earwear players will need to focus on features like gesture sensing, ANC & low latency at affordable price points,” says Upasana Joshi, Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India.