India is now the biggest smartwatch market in the world. According to Counterpoint Research’s latest global smartwatch model tracker, despite inflation and geopolitical crises, India’s market grew 171 per cent year-on-year in Q3, to become the biggest smartwatch market in the world.
Since the start of this year, global smartwatch shipments increased 30 per cent y-o-y in Q3. During the quarter, other markets also grew y-o-y, except China and Europe.
“The basic smartwatch, with relatively lighter versions of operating systems (OSs) and more affordable prices, has been the key driver in sharply boosting the global market recently,” said Woojin Son, Research Analyst.
“While HLOS smartwatch shipments grew 23 per cent y-o-y in Q3 2022, basic smartwatch shipments more than doubled y-o-y, accounting for 35 per cent of the total market. In terms of revenue, the HLOS smartwatch overwhelms the basic smartwatch with a market size of almost 10 times due to its high average selling price (ASP),” said Son.
Earlier, businessline had reported that in Q2 the Indian smartwatch grew by more than 347 per cent y-o-y, surpassing China to become the second-largest smartwatch market in the second quarter of 2022.
Apple grew 48 per cent y-o-y, owing to the strong sales of the newly released Apple Watch 8 series; Noise grew 218 per cent y-o-y to regain the top spot in the Indian market.
Samsung increased its shipments by 62 per cent quarter-on-quarter, with the launching of the new Galaxy Watch 5 series.
Fire-Boltt showed a flat market share, compared to the previous quarter, and Huawei grew 65 per cent y-o-y.
Smartwatch makers have stated that an increase in focus on health after the pandemic has led to the growth of smartwatches in the country.
“Smart design conceptualised around fashion, renewed fitness focus post the pandemic, has massified the category of smartwatch, at least for India. At PLAY, our strong belief in India-centric design and India-production stands proven with the surging category volumes,” said Vikas Jain, Co-Founder, World Of Play.