Fire Boltt, Noise lead India’s wearable market growth which sees a 34% spike

• India's offline wearable market has also seen a boost in shipments, as per IDC.
• In 2023, 134.2 million wearables, which includes smartwatches and earwear, were shipped in India.
• Smartwatches recorded a 73.7% growth, while earwear reported a 16.9% growth.

The Indian wearables market has continued to perform well in 2023, reporting a growth of 34% during the year. The last quarter of the year however reported a 12.7% year-on-year growth with 28.4 million devices shipped in the last quarter of the year.

According to a report by the International Data Corporation (IDC), 134.2 million wearables were shipped in India in 2023. This includes smartwatches and earwear such as truly wireless earbuds (TWS) and neckbands.

During the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2023, the average selling price (ASP) of the overall wearables market declined from $25 (approx. ₹2,075) to $21.2 (approx. ₹1,760), reporting a 15.4% decline.

Smartwatches report good growth

Smartwatch shipments grew by 73.7% year-on-year in 2023, with 53.4 million devices shipped during the year. The sales received a boost due to the festive season and heavy discounts offered by companies. At the same time, this led to a decline in the ASP from $42.5 (approx. ₹3,530) to $26.1 (approx. ₹2,170).


Source: IDC

The Indian smartwatch segment was led by Fire Boltt, which reported a slight decline in its market share despite recording a 69.8% increase in shipments. BeatXP, a new entrant in the market has managed to make it to the top five, with a market share of 3.8% during 2023.

“Affordability, low product penetration and a plethora of options led to a surge in demand for smartwatches. However, the growing popularity of non-branded watches is impacting the incumbents, offering cheap alternatives of popular models, and are even bundled with multiple watch straps,” said Anand Priya Singh, market analyst, wearable devices, IDC India.

“In 2024, we will see a proliferation of smartwatches with LTE SIM/eSIM connectivity, advanced health sensors, and multiple GPS navigation,” said Vikas Sharma, senior market analyst, wearable devices, IDC India.

TWS take the lead in the earwear segment

The earwear segment reported a growth of 16.9% in 2023, with 80.4 million devices shipped during the year. The earwear segment was led by TWS devices, which recorded a 67.3% share, up from 55.3% in 2022. This means that the consumer preference is moving from neckbands to TWS.

The ASP of earwear declined by 8.2% to $18.2 (approx. ₹1,510) in 2023. Speaking about the future of earwear, Sharma said, “In earwear, premium features like Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), and multi-device pairing will be available at affordable pricing.”


TWS shipments, IDC

The TWS segment was led by boAt, which reported a decline in overall market share from 38.5% in 2022 to 33.9% in 2023. This is despite a 25.2% increase in shipments.

Offline sales receive a boost

The shipments to the offline market received a boost in 2023, recording a 55.6% year-on-year growth. The share of shipments to the offline market increased from 26.7% in 2022 to 31% in 2023. Companies focused on expanding their retail presence in 2023.

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