India’s wearable device shipments drop 10% in June

Wearable device shipments in India experienced their first-ever decline, dropping 10% in the June 2024 quarter to 29.5 million units due to large unsold inventories of older models and reduced innovation, as reported by IDC on Thursday. Oppo, along with OnePlus, saw the steepest decline in shipments, plummeting by 35.8% year on year (YoY). Fire-Boltt followed with a 24.3% decrease, Noise with a 13.9% drop, and boAT with a 9.8% decline YoY.

Boult was the only top-five brand to record an increase, with a 9.6% rise in shipments. Despite the overall decline, boAt (Imagine Marketing) led the wearable market with a 26.7% share, followed by Noise (Nexxbase) at 13%, Boult at 8.1%, Fire-Boltt at 8%, and Oppo (combined with OnePlus) at 7.6%.

“Cautious inventory stocking by vendors, aimed at clearing old stock before the festive season, along with fewer new launches, were the primary reasons for this decline,” stated IDC’s India Monthly Wearable Device Tracker report. The average selling price (ASP) for wearables also hit a record low of $18.8 (around Rs 1,580), down from $21 (Rs 1,763). The total shipment decline was driven by a 27.4% drop in smartwatch shipments, which fell to 9.27 million in the reported quarter from 12.77 million a year earlier. “Smartwatch ASP dropped to $20.6 from $25.6 a year ago due to price cuts to clear inventory and brand discounts. Advanced smartwatches grew by 21.9%, with market share increasing from 1.5 to 2.5%,” the report added.

In the smartwatch segment, boAT was the hardest hit, with shipments plunging by about 45% YoY, followed by Noise with a 32.4% decline, Fire-Boltt with a 26.1% drop, and Boult with a 16.6% decrease. Titan was the only brand to record a significant increase, with a 69% jump in smartwatch shipments. Noise led the smartwatch market share with 25.7%, followed by Fire-Boltt with 24.2%, boAt with 11.6%, Titan with 7.9%, and Boult with 3.9%.

Wristband shipments grew by 23.4% to 37,800 units, up from 30,600 YoY. The earwear category remained flat, with a slight 0.7% YoY increase to 20.1 million units. Within earwear, the Truly Wireless Stereo (TWS) segment’s share grew by 9.1%, reaching a record 71%, up from 65.5% a year ago.

The smart ring category continued to expand, with over 72,000 units shipped in the second quarter of 2024 at an ASP of $204.6 (approximately Rs 17,000). “Ultrahuman led with a 48.4% share, followed by Pi Ring with 27.5%, and Aabo in third with a 10.5% share,” according to IDC. The company anticipates the launch of more affordable smart rings by major wearable brands during the upcoming festive season.