Indian Smartwatch Market Faces Stagnation: Top Brands Suffer Declines

The Indian smartwatch market stagnated in Q1 2024, with market leaders Fire Boltt, Noise, and Boat witnessing significant declines. Despite a 15% shipment dip, Fire Boltt maintained a 28% market share. Apple, however, saw its premium segment shipments triple. The market is expected to decline further in 2024 but may recover by 2026.

For the first time, the Indian smartwatch market has come to a standstill, as leading brands Fire Boltt, Noise, and Boat experienced an 11% decline in their market share during the January-March quarter, according to a report from Counterpoint Technology Market Research released on Thursday.

In stark contrast, Apple Watch shipments soared, tripling in the premium segment, the report noted. Fire Boltt retained its market leadership despite a year-on-year shipment decline of 15%, maintaining a 28% share. Noise's market share held steady at 24% despite a 2% dip in shipments, while Boat's share plummeted to 15% following a 24% decline.

Counterpoint Research's senior analyst, Anshika Jain, cited lingering stock and consumer indifference towards new models due to limited innovation as key factors for the overall market stagnation, with combined market shares of the top three brands dropping from 77% in Q1 2023 to 66% in Q1 2024.

According to the report, Fastrack and beatXP showed remarkable resilience, capitalizing on improved channel presence and entry-level segment targeting, respectively. Premium brands like Apple continue to thrive; Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 fueled Apple's growth, while Samsung's Galaxy Watch 6 series contributed half of its total shipments.

Counterpoint Research analyst Harshit Rastogi forecasted a double-digit percentage market decline in 2024 but anticipated recovery post-2026, driven by emerging smartwatch use-cases and gradual user growth.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)