India’s wearable shipments rise by 2.1% in Q1 2024, average price declines

• The Indian wearable shipments have reported a 2.1% year-on-year growth in Q1 2024.
• According to an IDC report, 25.6 million wearables were shipped in the country in Q1 2024.
• There was a nearly 20% decline in the average selling price of wearables in Q1 2024.

The Indian wearables market has continued to perform well in 2024, reporting a 2.1% year-on-year growth in Q1 2024. The wearables market recorded double-digit growth in 2023.

According to a report by the International Data Corporation (IDC), 25.6 million wearables were shipped in Q1 2024. Wearables include smartwatches and earwear such as truly wireless earbuds (TWS) and neckbands. While a small growth has been recorded in the first quarter, the growth was hindered by high inventory carried over from the festive season in 2023.

The share of offline channels in shipments increased to 37.9% in Q1 2024 from 26.1% in Q1 2023. The online channel shipments declined by 14.1% year-on-year in Q1 2024, the second consecutive quarter of decline.

“Vendors have started focusing on retail expansion via partnerships with large format national and regional retail chains and bundling wearables with other product categories like smartphones, laptops, etc. It will be interesting to see if these initiatives help bring back the growth momentum, especially in the festive sales period in the second half of the year,” said Anand Priya Singh, Market Analyst, Smart Wearable Devices, IDC India.

Decline in average selling price

Amid the launch of several affordable options, there was a significant decline in the average selling price (ASP) of wearables. In Q1 2024, the ASP declined by 17.8% from $22.62 (approx. ₹1,885) to $18.59 (approx. ₹1,550), a record low in wearables ASP.

Fire Boltt leads the smartwatch segment

Source: IDC

While the overall wearables segment recorded a slight increase, there was a decline in smartwatch shipments.

According to the report, the smartwatch shipments declined by 7.3% to 9.6 million devices, recording the first decline in shipments since Q4 2018. The decline has been attributed to excess inventory in the online channel and fewer new launches.

The ASP of smartwatches declined to $20.65 (approx. ₹1,720) from $29.24 (approx. ₹2,435).

Fire-Boltt emerged as the market leader, despite a decline in shipments. The company recorded a 23.5% market share in Q1 2024, down from 28.6% in Q1 2023.

boAt leads the TWS segment

Source: IDC

The earwear category reported a growth of 8.3% year-on-year in Q1 2024, shipping 15.9 million units. In the overall earwear category, the share of TWS devices increased to 70.1% from 63.8% in Q1 2023, recording a 19% growth.

The ASP of earwear declined to $16.62 (approx. ₹1,385).

boAt continues to lead the segment, with a 33.9% market share, up from 30.7% in Q1 2023. The collective share of the top five companies declined from 63.9% to 59.9%.

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