Local brands shine with 75% share as Indian smartwatch market records highest shipments in Q3

India's smartwatch market recorded its highest-ever shipments in the third quarter of the calendar year 2021 to record a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) growth of 159 per cent, Counterpoint Research said in a report.

In year-on-year (YoY) terms, the growth was at 293 per cent. Top brands seem to be ruling the market as the top three brands -- Noise, boAt and FIRE-BOLTT -- contributed to almost two-thirds of the total market.

As per the Counterpoint report, the growth can be attributed to promotions across various platforms, along with new launches, which contributed to around 28 per cent of the total market in terms of shipments.

Counterpoint Senior Research Analyst Anshika Jain said Q3 is crucial for smartwatch players as this is the time when they witness the highest growth. "To meet the anticipated surge in demand during the festive sale, the brands push increased shipments into the channel," Jain said.

As per Jain, they come up with multiple launches and big discount schemes throughout the quarter. "The market remained competitive in Q3 2021 with Noise and Boat together capturing almost 50 per cent of it. FIRE-BOLTT, Apple and realme emerged as the fastest growing brands during the quarter," she said.

On the emergence of local brands, Jain said they captured around 75 per cent of the Indian smartwatch market in Q3 2021 as compared to 38 per cent in Q3 2020, which makes it the highest contribution from the Indian players so far.

Among the brands, Noise grew 231 per cent YoY in Q3 2021, capturing the highest 25 per cent of the market. Noise has a well-balanced portfolio with multiple models.

After Noise, boAt grew 132 per cent QoQ with 24 per cent market share. Its boAt Storm remained the best-selling model in the market and it alone had a 17 per cent share in the overall smartwatch market.

FIRE-BOLTT remained at the third spot, with a tremendous quarter with 394 per cent QoQ growth. It was the fastest growing smartwatch player in this quarter.

realme made a comeback with the refreshed Watch 2 line-up. The brand registered 267 per cent QoQ growth in Q3 2021, taking the fourth spot in the market with a 7 per cent share.

Counterpoint Research Associate Harshit Rastogi said a steep decline is being seen in the average selling price of a smartwatch. "It has almost halved from the level a year back. More than 90 per cent of the market now falls under Rs 10,000 with Rs 2,500-Rs 3,000 being the most competitive segment and contributing to around 40 per cent of the overall market," he said.

With new launches coming at even lower prices, the market under Rs 2,000 is expected to witness higher growth in the coming months, he added.

Also read: Timex India launches its first made-in-India smartwatch Helix 2.0; check out full details