boat leads India’s wearable exports

Basic smartwatches continued to dominate with a 95.5 per cent share, growing by 158 per cent annually…reports Asian Lite News

The India wearable market saw a strong 46.9 per cent (year-over-year) growth in 2022, as shipments reached 100 million units with boAT taking the pole position, a report showed on Wednesday.

Smartwatch (inclusive of basic and advanced) shipments were 30.7 million last year, a growth of 151.3 per cent YoY. The smartwatch average selling price (ASPs) continue to decline, at $42.5 (vs $61.2 a year ago), according to an IDC report.

Basic smartwatches continued to dominate with a 95.5 per cent share, growing by 158 per cent annually. Wristbands declined for another year with negative 73.2 per cent YoY, with shipments dropping to half a million.

The holiday quarter (October-December 2022) saw 25.2 million unit shipments, registering a 16.5 per cent YoY growth.

“Vendors faced supply challenges throughout 2022, especially for smartwatches, which are not expected to ease off completely before early 2H23. Local manufacturing is expected to scale up to more than 80 per cent by exit 2023, with more players opting for local sourcing of parts/components,” said Vikas Sharma, senior market analyst, client devices, IDC India.

Earwear category, with the lowest ASP globally at $19.8, accounted for 68.7 per cent of the overall wearables category with 28 per cent YoY shipment growth. Within earwear, Truly Wireless (TWS) dominated with a 55.3 per cent share growing by 87.1 per cent.

boAt maintained the lead but its share dropped to 23.9 per cent in the fourth quarter declining by 34.3 per cent YoY.

Imagine Marketing (boAt) is planning to increase its presence in the smartwatch category in 2023, which accounted for 19.7 per cent of its overall shipments in 2022.

Nexxbase (Noise) stood second at 11.2 per cent in 4Q22, with 2.8 million shipments and registered 39.6 per cent growth. It strengthened its smartwatch leadership with a 27.2 per cent share.

OnePlus climbed to third place in the overall wearable category, growing by 83 per cent YoY and 10.2 per cent share.

Fire-Boltt dropped to fourth place, but with a strong 250 YoY growth, shipping 2.2 million units. Boult Audio at fifth place witnessed gain with 1.9 million shipments.

“To maintain similar growth in 2023, smartwatch vendors would need to remain focused on the entry-level price segment with essentials like Bluetooth calling, higher display brightness (1000+Nits), etc. fresh designs and new segments, enhanced app integration and collaboration with fashion brands with wider presence across large format stores,” said Upasana Joshi, Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India.

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