India’s wearable device market has experienced a significant downturn, marking a 20.7% year-over-year (YoY) decline in Q3 2024. According to IDC’s India Monthly Wearable Device Tracker, the market contracted for the second consecutive quarter, shipping 38 million units. This decline reflects reduced new product launches and a cautious inventory strategy during the festive season.

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Here’s a detailed breakdown of the report:

Smartwatch Market Overview

Decline in Shipments: Smartwatch shipments fell by 44.8% YoY, totaling 9.3 million units in Q3 2024. Brands focused on clearing older inventory with heavy discounts, particularly through online platforms.

Price Increase: Average selling prices (ASPs) for smartwatches rose slightly by 1.4%, from $25.8 to $26.2.

Advanced Smartwatches: Although shipments of advanced smartwatches dropped 39.9% YoY, their market share saw a marginal increase from 2.4% to 2.6%.

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Earwear Market Performance

Overall Decline: The earwear segment witnessed a 7.5% YoY decline, shipping 28.5 million units.

TWS Growth: Truly Wireless Stereo (TWS) devices now command 73.2% of the earwear market, a slight increase from last year, despite a 0.7% YoY decline.

Other Earwear: Non-TWS earwear shipments fell by 22%, with ASPs rising by 5.9% to $19.2.

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Brand Performance Highlights

Noise Leads Smartwatches: Noise (Nexxbase) maintained its lead in the smartwatch category, while boAt (Imagine Marketing) focused on festive stock clearance.

Growth Amidst Decline: Among the top five, Boult and realme showed significant growth in smartwatches, increasing by 32.5% and 56.5% YoY, respectively.

TWS Standouts: Boult and realme also excelled in the TWS segment, registering a growth of 55% and 94.6%, respectively. Notably, the smartphone brand Nothing achieved a remarkable 308.2% YoY growth in the wearable market.

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Sales Channel Insights

Offline Growth: Earwear shipments to offline channels grew by 9.4% YoY, increasing their market share from 29.1% to 34.4%.

Online Dominance in Smartwatches: The online channel’s share in smartwatch sales rose to 63.8% in Q3 2024, marking a consistent increase over the past three quarters.

White Box Brands Decline

White box brands, which had seen explosive growth of 328.8% YoY in Q3 2023, faced a dramatic 59.1% decline in Q3 2024 due to tapering demand. This affected overall festive shipments significantly.

Emerging Trends: Smart Rings

Category Growth: The smart ring segment shipped over 92,000 units in Q3 2024, with ASPs dropping by 16.2% to $162.1.

Top Brands: Ultrahuman led the category with a 36.8% market share, followed by boAt (20.5%) and Pi Ring (16.3%). Lower prices and upcoming launches are expected to drive further growth in this segment.

Future Outlook

The smartwatch market faces challenges from undifferentiated products and a limited number of active brands. Vikas Sharma, senior market analyst at IDC India, predicts the smartwatch market will remain flat or see a slight decline in 2025. However, a gradual consumer shift toward advanced smartwatches with better health tracking and sensor technology is emerging.

Conclusion

India’s wearables market, once a rapidly growing segment, now faces significant headwinds. While segments like TWS and smart rings continue to show promise, the overall market needs innovation and differentiation to regain momentum. With strategic investments and evolving consumer preferences, the wearables sector has the potential to bounce back in the coming quarters.

Source @ idc.com