India’s smartwatch market recorded over 274 per cent year-over-year (y-o-y) growth in 2021 shipments, according to the latest research from Counterpoint’s IoT Service. Further, it recorded a q-o-q growth of over 8 per cent, making Q4 2021 the market’s biggest ever quarter.
Senior Research Analyst, Anshika Jain, said, “The smartwatch market is showing tremendous growth, which is attributed to increased health awareness, affordable prices, growth of new entrants, discount schemes and numerous launches of feature-packed products throughout the year.”
According to Jain, over 86 per cent of the total shipments were driven by the under ₹5,000 price band, compared to 59 per cent in the previous year.
“Many of the features which were earlier present in the ₹3,000-5,000 price band smartwatches are now found in the ₹2,000-3,000 segment, like SPO2, blood pressure monitoring, voice assistance and larger display. Even features which were earlier prominent in premium smartwatches, like ECG and Bluetooth calling, can be seen in smartwatches priced under ₹5,000,” said Jain.
Domestic brands in the lead
In terms of top players, domestic brands captured over 75 per cent of the total market shipments. Overall, nearly 80 brands are present in India’s smartwatch market.
Research Associate, Harshit Rastogi, said, “Indian players led the market by capturing over 75 per cent share. The top three brands captured two-thirds of the total smartwatch market in 2021, compared to just half in 2020. The market saw over 10 new entrants in 2021, intensifying the competition. The market is estimated to grow by around 50 per cent in 2022 considering the high demand and brands’ dedicated efforts to bring additional capabilities to their devices.”
Noise led the market in 2021 with a 27 per cent share and over 278 per cent y-o-y growth.
“Portfolio expansion towards lower price points, emphasis on community building, designing products according to preferences backed by a strong consumer database, and new alliances and partnerships helped the brand become the market leader,” the report said.
Four of the brand’s models made it to the top 10 in 2021. Its ColorFit Pro 2 remained its most popular smartwatch. boAt came in second 2021 with a 26 per cent share. It topped the charts in Q4 2021 with a 28 per cent market share. The brand completed a year in the smartwatch market in Q4 2021 and has launched over ten models so far. Its Storm was the best-selling smartwatch in 2021.
Fire Boltt was one of the key new entrants in the smartwatch market, as per the report. The brand quickly managed to capture the third position with over 20 models across price bands. It held a 15 per cent market share in Q4 2021.
The brand has a presence in more than 600 cities, major large retail formats, and online portals. The brand also entered the Middle East in 2021.
Realme which grew 23 per cent y-o-y in 2021 took the fourth spot “driven by a well-balanced portfolio and strong online partnerships,” as per the report. The brand held a 3 per cent market share in Q4 2021. Its Watch S contributed to around 30 per cent of its total sales.
Amazfit registered 65 per cent y-o-y growth and captured the fifth position in the smartwatch market. It tied for the fourth spot in Q4 2021 with a 3 per cent market share. It led the market in the ₹10,000-15,000 price band with over one-third of the total shipments. The brand refreshed its portfolio in Q4 2021 with the launch of three new devices – GTR 3, GTR 3 Pro and GTS 3.
Samsung recorded more than 2x growth in 2021 driven by its most popular model, the Galaxy Watch Active 2. The newly introduced Galaxy Watch 4 series contributed to over 16 per cent of its total shipments, as per the report.
Apple’s growth in the segment remained flat in 2021 with the Watch SE contributing around 44 per cent of its total volume. The refreshed line-up of Series 7 was off to a great start with shipments crossing 1,00,000 units in Q4 2021, as per the report. Dizo which entered the smartwatch market in Q3 2021 managed to make it to the top ten with successful launches in the budget segment.
Overall, India’s smartwatch market is mostly online driven, with 78 per cent of the shipment coming from online channels, where Flipkart and Amazon contribute 48 per cent and 43 per cent shares, respectively.
Talking about domestic manufacturing, Jain said, “Although only 1 per cent of the total smartwatches shipped were domestically assembled, this number is likely to jump many times due to duty structure changes and government push.”
Published on
February 10, 2022
