India's true wireless stereo (TWS) market witnessed 60 per cent (on-year) growth in shipment volumes in 2021 to reach 21 million units, a new report showed on Thursday.
Homegrown brand boAt captured the top spot for the sixth consecutive quarter, followed by realme and Noise, according to Counterpoint Research.
"Premium features such as ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) can now be seen in the low-end segment as well, but the ANC quality may vary. realme was the first brand to offer this feature in the mid-price segment (Rs 2,000-Rs 5,000)," said senior research analyst Anshika Jain.
Following this, brands like pTron, Noise, Dizo and boAt also started offering ANC-enabled devices in the same segment.
"Going forward, brands are expected to explore more in terms of innovation, particularly adding health-related features and transparency mode to help enhance the user experience," Jain added.
The domestic manufacturing of TWS devices is in its nascent stage but this percentage is likely to increase further driven by increased partnerships with EMS (electronic manufacturing services) providers and benefits available under the 'Make-In-India' scheme.
"boAt started offering made-in-India devices towards the second half of 2021 while brands like Mivi have their entire TWS portfolios manufactured domestically. Besides, PTron and Ambrane are making their devices locally," said Jain.
India's TWS market saw a healthy 20 per cent YoY growth in the premium segment (more than Rs 5,000).
"Apple led this segment in 2021, followed by Samsung and JBL. Most of the volume here was driven by the Airpods Gen 2 model due to its price being lowered ahead of the launch of the Airpods Gen 3 model," said senior research analyst Liz Lee.
New entrant Nothing also made a mark in the top five list of premium brands with its strong value proposition, the report added.
Almost eight out of 10 models were sold online in 2021 with Flipkart dominating the channels.
Multiple new entrants, made-in-India devices, advanced features at low price points and increased partnerships with ODMs were the major spotlights of the year, the report noted.
