boAt lost 10% share in India wearable market: IDC

The India wearable market achieved 46.9 percent growth to register shipment of 100 million units in 2022, according to IDC.
boat wearablesIndia wearable shipments registered 16.5 percent growth to 25.2 million in Q4.

boAt has lost significant market share in India. The market share of boAt fell to 29.3 percent in 2022 from 39.3 percent in 2021. The share of boAt in India wearable market was 23.9 percent in Q4 2022 against 42.4 percent in Q4 2021.

The earwear category remained flat, while smartwatches grew by 73.6 percent in 4Q22.

The share of smartwatches grew from 17.9 percent in 2021 to 30.7 percent in 2022.

Smartwatch shipments were 30.7 million in 2022, a growth of 151.3 percent. Smartwatch ASPs declined to $42.5 from $61.2 a year ago. Basic smartwatches dominated with 95.5 percent share. Wristbands fell 73.2 percent to half a million.

Earwear category, with the lowest ASP globally at $19.8, accounts for 68.7 percent of the wearables category with 28 percent shipment growth in 2022. Within earwear, Truly Wireless (TWS) dominates with 55.3 percent share growing by 87.1 percent, tethered grew by 1.9 percent, while over-the-ear declined by more than 50 percent in 2022.

“Vendors faced supply challenges throughout 2022, especially for smartwatches. Local manufacturing is expected to scale up to more than 80 percent by exit 2023, with more players opting for local sourcing of parts/components,” says Vikas Sharma, Senior Market Analyst, Client Devices, IDC India.

Imagine Marketing (boAt) maintains the lead, but its share dropped to 23.9 percent in 4Q22 declining by 34.3 percent. More than 3/4th of its shipments in the earwear segment are for TWS, as it continued to lead with a 32.8 percent share in 4Q22. Annual shipments grew by 9.3 percent, at 29.3 million in 2022. Imagine Marketing is planning to increase its presence in the smartwatch category in 2023, which accounted for 19.7 percent of its overall shipments in 2022.

Nexxbase (Noise) stood second at 11.2 percent in 4Q22, with 2.8 million shipments, and registered 39.6 percent growth. Noise strengthened its smartwatch leadership with a 27.2 percent share, growing 152.6 percent annually in 2022. “Colorfit Icon Buzz” and “Colorfit Caliber” were its key models with a million plus shipments, respectively. Diversified product portfolio and promotional activities ensured strong play for Noise in the watches segment.

OnePlus climbed to third place in the overall wearable category in 4Q22, growing by 83 percent and 10.2 percent share. 76.8 percent of total shipments came from “Bullets Wireless Z2”. OnePlus shipped 8.5 million earwear units and stood second with a 12.4 percent share.

Fire – Boltt dropped to fourth place, but with 250 percent growth in 4Q22 shipping 2.2 million units. For the year, it stood at second place in the smartwatch segment, with 7.6 million shipments and 24.8 percent share in 2022. Multiple launches, celebrity endorsements, and enhanced features at very affordable prices aided in this growth.

Boult Audio at fifth place witnessed a share gain to 7.9 percent with 1.9 million shipments in 4Q22. It is an earwear-focused company with entry-level TWS models, which stood second in the TWS category in 4Q22. For the year, Boult Audio stood at fourth place in the earwear segment, with a 5.4 percent share. Boult Audio also forayed into the smartwatch segment.