Indian wearable market is booming, earwear segment registers 443.6% growth

According to a new report from IDC, India’s wearables market shipped record 14.9 million units in 2019, led by the ear-worn devices.

Wearable market grows in India (REUTERS)

Wearables are selling like hotcakes in India. A new report from research firm IDC reveals India's wearable market saw another record year with shipments of wearables registered 168.3% year-over-year growth in 2019. The report says about 14.9 million units of wearables were shipped to the Indian market during the period.

It's worth noting that the wearables include smart bands, watches, and earwears. All these three product categories saw a big growth in 2019. For instance, earwear grew by 443.6% during 2019. IDC says it's one of the fastest-growing consumer electronics categories. Boat was the leading brand in this category with a 27.3% market share. In the truly wireless segment, Apple led with AirPods series (43.1% market share).

Wrist bands saw 52.6% growth in 2019 with shipments hovering around 5.3 million units. Xiaomi led the segment with 48.9% category share and grew 54.7% YoY in 2019. Interestingly enough, Titan is at the second position with a 14.5% category.

In the watch segment, the market saw shipments of 933 thousand units, registering a 77.5% year-over-year growth. Fossil was the top brand with 30.3% share followed by Apple at 26.6% share. Huami, which sells Amaazfit devices, led the basic watch category.

IDC's report on wearables in India (IDC)

IDC's report on wearables in India (IDC)

"Basic wearables continue to dominate India's wearables market with a 96.2% category share, up 177% YoY in 2019. Smart wearables that can run third-party applications on the device itself, accounted for 3.8% of the overall wearable shipments in 2019 and registered 49.5% growth from the previous year. Accounting for most shipment volumes, the earwear category grew five-fold shipping 8.5 million units, watches grew 77.5% while wrist bands ended the year as the second-largest wearable category," said IDC in its report.

Commenting on the growth of wearables, Anisha Dumbre , Market Analyst, IDC India stated, "Ear-worn devices have found huge appeal with consumers, who are spoiled for choice with a variety of models at different price points. Affordable neckbands are leading the charge of migration from wired to wireless in this category. At the same time, truly wireless devices with improved battery life and connectivity are attracting users to spend more. As more vendors entered this segment with affordable options, the average selling price (ASP) of the category came down to $39 in 2019 from $63 a year ago, resulting in massive growth in this category."