India’s Smartwatch Market Stagnates In Q1 2024: Report

A recent report from Counterpoint's IoT Service indicates that in Q1 2024, smartwatch shipments to India increased modestly by 0.3 per cent YoY, signaling the first-ever stagnation of the once-thriving sector. Over the past few years, the Indian smartwatch market has experienced rapid expansion due to strong demand, especially from younger consumers. However, the modest growth in Q1 2024 suggests that early adopters' replacement rates are dropping as a result of important companies' inadequate innovation and differentiation.

Commenting on the market trends, Senior Research Analyst Anshika Jain says, “The overall market, which has been registering double- and triple-digit growth over the last couple of years, remained flat in Q1 2024 as some top brands faced difficulties in clearing their existing stocks. Consumers are not warming up to buy a new smartwatch or replace an existing one due to low differentiation in terms of features and limited innovation in the market leading to a decline in the combined market share of the top three players from 77 per cent in Q1 2023 to 66 per cent in Q1 2024.”

In terms of brands, Fire-Boltt continued to lead the market, followed by Noise and boAt, respectively. Fastrack performed well, driven by improved channel presence and new model launches. beatXP’s shipments doubled as it focused on low-ASP smartwatches and targeted the entry-level segment.

In the premium segment, Apple grew more than 3x due to continued demand for the Apple Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. For Samsung, almost 50 per cent of its shipments volume came from the Galaxy Watch 6 series.

From the consumer outlook, the hyper-growth of smartwatches in the Indian market over the past few years has been primarily driven by its appeal as a low-cost fashion accessory. However, this initial growth phase is now cooling down as the initial excitement of the segment is tapering off.