India's smartwatch market saw significant growth, up by 21 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2023 (July-September), with Fire-Boltt emerging as the leader, according to a report by Counterpoint Research released on Thursday.
One of the notable aspects was the surge in domestic manufacturing, reaching an all-time high market share of 82 percent, a remarkable increase from just 4 percent a year ago.
The boost in Q3 was fueled by increased inventory buildup for the festive season sales in October, with several new features such as larger screens and OLED displays making their way into lower-priced smartwatches. In the price band of Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000, smartwatches with screens larger than 1.9 inches accounted for 21 percent of the contribution, while over half of the devices featured OLED displays, noted Senior Research Analyst Anshika Jain.
Fire-Boltt led the market, securing a 28 percent share and boasting the most extensive portfolio. It also maintained the lowest average selling price among the top three players, as per the report.
Other key players included Noise with a 24 percent share, boAt securing a 16 percent share, and Fastrack (a sub-brand of Titan) capturing an eight percent market share. beatXP entered the top five for the first time, experiencing a remarkable 4X quarter-on-quarter growth in Q3 2023.
Apple, however, faced a decline of 52 percent in shipments due to the availability of its new series only in late September and the absence of a refresh for the Watch SE 2022. Despite this decline, Apple continued to lead the market in the retail price band above Rs 20,000.
The smartwatch market in India saw a significant decline in the average selling price by 41 percent year-on-year, hitting its lowest-ever level. This led to over three-fifths of the market falling under the price band of less than Rs 2,000, highlighted Research Analyst Harshit Rastogi.
(With Agency Inputs)
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