IDC Wearables Report Q1 2022 Growth India Boat Tws Watch Growth

By Akriti Rana and Nimish Dubey

Indian manufacturers would possibly now not be the frontrunners within the smartphone market, however they’re doing remarkably effectively with regards to wearables. And whereas the Indian smartphone market is displaying indicators of slowing down, all is effectively on the wearables entrance. IDC just lately launched information from its India Month-to-month Machine Tracker for Q1 2022 and its findings make for an attention-grabbing learn. It was 1 / 4 that noticed true wi-fi stereo (TWS) earbuds and primary watches develop by leaps and bounds whilst health bands and extra superior smartwatches misplaced floor. Listed below are a few of the attention-grabbing points of the info shared by IDC.

Spectacular development total

In its report, IDC divides wearables into three classes — wrist bands (primarily health bands), watches (primary smartwatches and smartwatches that run Watch OS and Android Put on), and earwear (TWS and Bluetooth earphones). As per the info, the wearables market in India grew by a powerful 20.1 p.c in Q1 2022. In complete, 13.9 million models of wearables had been shipped as in comparison with 11.5 million in Q1 2021. Numerous our sources in retail have informed us that this development has been largely spurred by the pandemic and the lockdowns that accompanied it. Whereas the necessity to work from home spurred wearables gross sales, worry of COVID induced higher well being consciousness and led to extra customers investing in gadgets that might monitor information like coronary heart price and blood oxygen saturation stage (SpO2).

Watches set the tempo, as health bands fade

They could have began the wearables revolution in India in 2015, however wrist bands appear to be shedding recognition if IDC’s statistics are something to go by. Shipments of wrist bands had been 0.26 million in Q1 2022, down by a large 65.9 p.c as in comparison with 0.76 million in Q1 2021 — their ninth consecutive quarter of decline. A key purpose for his or her fall, we suspect, is the truth that smartwatches have gotten inexpensive — you may get a smartwatch for beneath Rs 2,000 now, which is about the identical that buying a wrist band from a well known model will price you. Certainly, watches drove the expansion within the wearables section, recording a staggering development of 173 p.c, and greater than doubling from 1.3 million to three.7 million. Clearly, customers appear to choose bigger shows and extra information. And decrease costs too, as the following level will illustrate.

“Primary” smartwatches develop by greater than 200 p.c, “actual” smartwatches dip

The rise within the recognition of smartwatches appears to be clearly pushed by what IDC calls “primary watches” (watches that typically don’t assist calling and have fewer options). These primary watches actually comprised as a lot as 95.1 p.c of all watch shipments in Q1 2022, reflecting a tremendous development of 202 p.c. Then again, smartwatches (as per IDC, watches like Apple Watch and people who run Android Put on) really registered a dip in development by 4.2 p.c. The recognition of primary watches additionally meant that the common promoting worth of watches typically declined from $86 in Q1 2021 to $50.3 in Q1 2022.

Earwear nonetheless has the lion’s share of wearables (with TWS share rising)

The overwhelming majority of wearables shipped within the Indian market had been earwear, or Bluetooth earphones and TWS. Of the 13.9 million models of wearables shipped in Q1 2022, 9.9 million had been earwear. This quantity is up from 9.4 million as in comparison with Q1 2021, a development of just about 5 p.c. However whereas earwear grows and remains to be the largest portion of the wearables market, its domination appears to be declining. Earwear was 81.7 p.c of all wearables in Q1 2021, however that quantity is right down to 71.2 p.c in Q1 2022.

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TWS getting extra fashionable

Indian customers appear to be eliminating wires with a vengeance with regards to private audio. This may be seen from the truth that the share of TWS elevated from 34.2 p.c of earwear in Q1 2021 to 48.3 p.c in Q1 2022, marking a development of 48.2 p.c. In reality, extra TWS had been shipped in Q1 2022 than watches and wristbands put collectively.  In fact, the expansion of TWS implies that the share of different Bluetooth earphones declined on this interval.  Will probably be attention-grabbing to see if this pattern persists.

BoAt, Noise, and Fireplace-Boltt dominate

Three of the highest 5 gamers within the wearables market had been Indian manufacturers. These had been Think about Advertising and marketing (BoAt), Nexxbase (Noise), and Fireplace-Boltt. BoAt took first place with a 22.9 p.c share, whereas Noise took second spot with 10.9 p.c, and Fireplace-Boltt got here in fourth at 6.6 p.c, simply behind OnePlus at 7.4 p.c, and marginally forward of Realme which had the identical market share. When it comes to development, nonetheless, Fireplace-Boltt was the shock bundle with a development of 1522.2 p.c (sure, you learn that proper!) as in comparison with Q1 2021, thanks primarily to its give attention to watches, and its profitable Ninja vary.

Noise, too, recorded a powerful development of 150.1 p.c, spurred by a number of launches. BoAt, for its half, recorded a extra modest development of 5.2 p.c, but it surely needs to be famous that its share of twenty-two.9 p.c is greater than that of Noise and Fireplace-Boltt put collectively. Each BoAt and Noise profited by aggressive launches and pricing in each watches and earwear, whereas Fireplace-Boltt’s focus was completely on watches. Fireplace-Boltt is a shocking success when you think about the truth that it didn’t actually have a 1 p.c market share in Q1 2021.

Realme grows, OnePlus stalls

OnePlus was the one participant within the high 5 to document destructive development in Q1 2022. The model which had a 13.8 p.c share in Q1 2021, dipped to 7.4 p.c in Q1 2022. A degree to notice, nonetheless, is that it had no watch or band releases on this quarter and all its launches had been within the earwear class. That may change within the coming months with additions anticipated within the OnePlus watch vary and even speak of a brand new health band. Realme, alternatively, noticed its share go up from 6.3 p.c in Q1 2021 to six.6 p.c in Q1 2022. Its star performer was a TWS providing — the Realme Buds Wi-fi 2 Neo, which contributed a large 43 p.c of all its shipments.

Indian manufacturers dominate watches, Chinese language play it by ear(put on)

An attention-grabbing side of the expansion of the wearables market is that whereas Indian manufacturers appear to have completed significantly effectively within the watch section, their Chinese language counterparts have scored within the earwear section. This may be partly attributed to the truth that each Realme and OnePlus focussed extra on earwear in Q1 2022. It’s attention-grabbing to see that Xiaomi was not in a position to get into the highest 5 despite releasing new editions of its Redmi watch and good band.

Look out for the “others”

The highest 5 would possibly make the headlines, however it’s clear that the Indian wearables market is split between quite a few gamers. Of the main gamers, solely BoAt — with a share of twenty-two.9 p.c — will be stated to have a dominant place. Noise is a great distance behind at 10.9 p.c. In reality, “others” (these outdoors the highest 5) comprise a large 45.6 p.c of the market and recorded a development of 13.9 p.c as in comparison with Q1 2021. These “others” comprise some formidable gamers together with Apple, Samsung (which owns JBL), Xiaomi, Google (which owns Fitbit), Amazfit, Oppo, Jabra, Sony, and Sennheiser. We’d not wager towards a few of them making inroads into the highest 5 within the coming quarters, particularly given the rumours of each a brand new Apple Watch and AirPods from Apple.

2022 will possible be a great 12 months for wearables

As per IDC, 2022 goes to be a great 12 months for wearables. IDC says that manufacturers will attempt to entice customers in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, and much more manufacturers are anticipated to hitch the fray because the sector continues to develop. As per IDC, Q2 2022 will see wholesome development, whereas the rest of the 12 months will see the expansion momentum proceed, due to presents which can be anticipated to come back within the conventional Indian festive season. Volumes are additionally anticipated to rise as costs are anticipated to additional drop with “made in India” components anticipated on this section later within the 12 months.