India’s Wearable Market Logs Over 118% Growth to 11.2 Million Units in Q2: IDC

India’s wearables market grew 118.2% YoY in the June 2021 quarter at 11.2 million units with robust shipments from homebased brands in earwear and watches propelling this growth, according to research firm IDC.

The second wave of COVID-19 had a marginal impact as the total wearable (which includes smartwatches, wrist bands and earwear) shipments declined by 1.3% sequentially in the June quarter.

Partial lockdowns, weekend curfews, and disturbed supply chains occasioned in a skewed slump in the early-quarter shipments, IDC said.

However, dissimilar to last year the market was quick to improve as the vendors stocked the channels to fulfil the pent-up consumer demand in the quarter, it added.

IDC India Research Manager (Client Devices) Mr. Jaipal Singh said the strong growth in wearable is enticing brands who have businesses around devices and accessories to increase their presence across all wearable categories.

“Thus, the invasion of new entrants remains a key driver of growth. As we approach the festive season, vendors and channel partners are pitching up for record level of demand with the intention of further corrections in the prices,” Mr. Singh added.

Mr. Singh noted that an positive of over 35% seems an easily attainable feat in the second half of 2021 when equated to the same period last year.

“Though, retailers will be selective in their channel inventory with emphasis on remains on e-tailers as concerns around COVID-19 third wave still prevails in the country,” he added.

Watches continued to be the fastest-growing category accounting for 81.2% share in the wristwear category that includes watches and wristbands – up from 35% a year ago.

The earwear category also maintained its impetus, doubling its shipments in the June quarter and remains the largest category (in terms of number of units shipped) in the Indian wearables market.

As per the data, earwear category logged shipment of 9.2 million units, wrist band was 372,000 units and watch 1.6 million units in the June 2021 quarter.

IDC said over the quarters, the watch form factor appears to be appealing to the consumers, and Indian brands have been faster to leverage this trend and line up their device portfolio.

“Among the top five (watch) brands, three spots are captured by Indian brands, while Huami (Amazfit) and Realme are at third and fifth positions, respectively. Noise continues to be the leading player in the overall watch category for five straight quarters with a 28.6% share in Q2 2021,” it added.

Boat ranked second with 26.9% share. Fire-boltt, another homegrown brand, entered at fourth position in just three quarters of opening its business in this category.

Xiaomi maintained the numero uno spot in the wristband category with 38.9% share, followed by Oneplus (21.7%) and Titan 21.3% share.

“Affordability has been crucial for Indian brands, and these brands have been hugely successful in gaining a significant portion of the watch market with competitive pricing, aggressive marketing, and faster adoption of new features,” Ms. Anisha Dumbre, Market Analyst (Client Devices) at IDC India, said.

This new generation of homebased brands are digitally inherent, aware of their limitations and selectively targeting the gaps.

“However, they need to be vigilant of the China-based brands, who going forward will be aggressive by introducing more sub-brands and leveraging the ecosystem play,” Ms. Dumbre added.

Boat’s aggressive shipments and diverse portfolio helped it gain 45.5% share in the earwear category (and 39.6% share of the True Wireless Stereo (TWS) or earbuds segment) in the June quarter, IDC said.

OnePlus finished second with an 8.5% earwear category share in the second quarter.

“Even in the earwear category, the homegrown brands have a strong domination as their share has reached 71.5% in Q2 2021 from just 31.2% in Q2 2020. Ptron, Zebronics, Noise, Portronics, Boult Audio, and Truke were among the key prominent brands that supported the dominance of homegrown brands in this category,” it added.

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