India’s wearable market up by 170.3% yoy in Q1 2021

According to a research firm, International Data Corporation (IDC), the market for Indian wearables grew by 170.3% year over year (y-o-y), reaching 11.4 million units in Jan-Mar 2021. The firm said that robust growth in watch and earwear categories has led to “highest-ever first-quarter shipments in India”.

Watches are the highest growing category, with 463.8% yoy growth rate in Q1 2021. Wrist category overall (includes wristbands and watches) grew by 74.8% yoy, showing growing popularity in India of devices which track fitness and health.

However, the wearables overall experienced 24.9% quarter-over-quarter (q-o-q) decline in shipments in Q1 2021, primarily due to decline in earwear shipments. After experiencing robust growth in the three quarters, the earwear segment witnessed a 28.6% q-o-q decline.

“The ongoing consumer enthusiasm for earwear devices demonstrates the category’s healthy appetite. Vendors are trying to capitalise on the ride with low and mid-priced devices. This is not only helping lower the category’s ASP (average selling price) but also adding improved features to acquire new users,” Anisha Dumbre, Market Analyst at IDC India commented.

Offline challenges which emerged due to the pandemic have started to come back to normal level, she further added. However, the second wave of the pandemic has again disrupted the retail sales as the cities are going through the lockdowns, postponing the expansion of the companies in the offline mode by two quarters.