India’s wearables firms shipped a record 48.1 million units in July-Sept quarter

India’s wearable market registered 29.2% year-on-year growth in the July-September quarter of 2023 as domestic firms shipped a record 48.1 million units in the period. This takes the total numbers to 105.9 million units in the first three quarters of 2023, which is more than the 100.1 million units shipped in 2022 as per International Data Corporation (IDC).

Of the total wearables, smartwatches remained the fastest growing category with 16.9 million units shipped, a 41% YoY growth as vendors shipped aggressively ahead of the festive season. However, heavy discounting and offers across channels led to a 35.3% YoY drop in the average selling price of smartwatches to $26.7 in Q3. However, the average selling price grew QoQ (quarter-on-quarter) by 4.3%, up from $25.6 last quarter, due to the increased share of advanced smartwatches from 1.5% to 2.4%, as well as the introduction of premium options in the basic smartwatch segment.

On the other hand, the share of earwear dropped to 64.4% from 67.3% a year ago, but shipments still grew 23.6% to 30.9 million units. Within earwear, the Truly Wireless Stereo (TWS) segment took 68.4% share with strong growth of 46.7% YoY, whereas neckbands declined by 6.9% YoY. Average selling price for TWS and neckbands stood at $19.5 and $14.2 with declines of 17.1% and 4.6% YoY, respectively.

The uptick in sales was backed by new model launches by the brands across price points and product categories. And other than the new smartwatch and earwear models, smart rings also became prominent in India in Q3. “The smart ring category is generating a lot of interest from consumers, particularly due to the interesting form factor and several launches in the past few months. Smart rings add novelty to the wearable device space, with brands trying to position it as a fashion accessory and a non-intrusive health device. While currently there are very few models, we can expect more mainstream brands launching more affordable options next year,” says Upasana Joshi, Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India. The overall average selling price declined by 20.4% from $27.2 to $21.7.

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