India's Smartwatch Market Witnesses Record Growth With Domestic Players Like Noise And BoAt Sealing Top Spots

The smartwatch market in India is mostly driven by online channels, with 78 per cent of shipments coming from Flipkart and Amazon, contributing 48 and 43 per cent shares respectively.

According to the latest analysis from Counterpoint's IoT Service, the smartwatch market achieved a historic increase of over 274 per cent year-on-year in 2021 shipments. It was also found that domestic brands captured over 75 per cent of the total market shipments.

Additionally, fourth quarter (Q4) of 2021 marked the market's biggest-ever quarter, with a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) increase of nearly 8 per cent.

Noise had a 27 per cent market share in 2021, whereas BoAt, which had just been in the market for a year, was not far behind in second place with 26 per cent, and was at the first position in Q4 2021.

Senior research analyst Anshika Jain stated: “The smartwatch market is showing tremendous growth, which is attributed to increased health awareness, affordable prices, growth of new entrants, discount schemes and numerous launches of feature-packed products throughout the year.”

She further noted that the under-Rs 5,000 price bracket accounted for more than 86 per cent of total shipments, up from 59 per cent the previous year. Many of the features that were previously only available in smartwatches priced between Rs 3,000 and Rs 5,000 are now available in the Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 range, including SPO2, blood pressure monitoring, voice assistance and a larger display.

As per Jain, features that were previously only available in luxury smartwatches, such as ECG and bluetooth calling, are now available in smartwatches under Rs 5,000.

In the case of domestic manufacturing, Jain said: “Although only 1 per cent of the total smartwatches shipped were domestically assembled, this number is likely to jump many times due to duty structure changes and government push.”

Research associate Harshit Rastogi explained: “Indian players led the market by capturing over 75 per cent share. The top three brands captured two-thirds of the total smartwatch market in 2021, compared to just half in 2020.”

“The market saw over 10 new entrants in 2021, intensifying the competition. The market is estimated to grow by around 50 per cent in 2022 considering the high demand and brands’ dedicated efforts to bring additional capabilities to their devices,” he added.

The Popular Brands

Noise dominated the market in 2021, with a 27 per cent share and a year-on-year growth rate of almost 278 per cent. The company produced four of the top 10 models in 2021, while the ColorFit Pro 2 remained the most popular smartwatch.

The second popular company, BoAt, which has launched over 10 models so far, as per the report, Storm was the best-selling smartwatch in 2021.

The third popular company on this list is Fire Boltt, which is one of the most notable newcomers in the smartwatch industry. It has over 20 models in various price categories. The company has a presence in more than 600 cities, as well as major large retail formats and online platforms.

Chinese company Realme grew 23 per cent year-on-year in 2021 to take fourth place, owing to a well-balanced portfolio and strong online partnerships. The Watch S accounted for roughly 30 per cent of total sales, according to Counterpoint.

The other top market players include Amazfit, Samsung, Apple and Dizo.

Chinese company Amazfit grew by 65 per cent year-on-year and now ranks fifth in the smartwatch market. It dominated the market in the Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 price range, accounting for more than one-third of total shipments.

In the case of South Korean firm Samsung, it grew more than 2x in 2021 driven by its most popular model, Galaxy Watch Active 2, while tech giant Apple remained flat in 2021, with the Watch SE accounting for approximately 44 per cent of total volume.

Counterpoint also noted that Dizo, which entered the market in Q3 2021, the majority of its volume was driven by the Watch 2 model.