India’s smartwatch market recorded a 173% on-year growth in the January-March quarter, as growing consumer interest, multiple launches, and discounts and promotions prompted consumers to splash out.

Homegrown brands Noise, Fire-Boltt, and BoAt dominated the smartwatch market during the quarter, according to the latest Counterpoint data. Noise took first place among the three contenders with a market share of 23%, followed by Fire-Boltt, which took second place for the first time, with 21%, while boAt finished third with 18%.

Over 10 brands entered the smartwatch market in the first quarter, including Fastrack, Defy, Truke, and Reebok. The Rs 1,000-Rs 2,000 price band reached its highest share of 14%.

Commenting on the trends, Counterpoint Senior Research Analyst Anshika Jain said: “The contribution of the <Rs 5,000 retail price band increased to 87% from 78% in Q1 (January-March) 2021.”

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“The Rs 1,000-Rs 2,000 retail price band reached its highest ever share of 14% from just 2% a year ago. Many brands have started to focus on this low-price tier to attract first-time users and acquire the smart band user base. Consumer awareness has also increased in this segment due to brands’ continuous efforts on marketing and promotions through online and offline channels.”

Speaking on how the top three brands captured 60% of the domestic market, Jain said: “Noise led the overall smartwatch market driven by its value-for-money offerings, the addition of relevant features to its product portfolio and emphasis on the Make-in-India scheme.”

“Fire-Boltt emerged as the second-largest player for the first time due to its focus on affordability and the introduction of feature-packed products. Fire-Boltt has a good offline presence and targets multiple smartwatch segments like fashion, lifestyle, fitness and luxury. boAt captured the third spot. It also refreshed its portfolio in Q1 2022 with five new models.”

According to Counterpoint data, Noise doubled its shipments on-year due to the performance of its new devices, with the Colorfit Pulse becoming the best-selling model. Fire-Boltt took the second position for the first time with a 21% share (see Counterpoint graphic). It had multiple launches this quarter with the Ninja Pro Max being its most popular device. Further, 57% of its watches come with the Bluetooth calling function.

boAt recorded 106% on-year growth with the Xtend and the Storm models capturing two-thirds of its portfolio. boAt also launched the Wave Pro 47, its first Made-in-India smartwatch, during the quarter.

Dizo, which broke into the top five for the first time, introduced an OLED display with its new Watch R model. It also expanded its offline presence.

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Samsung, on the other hand, grew 78% on year, with the Galaxy Watch 4 series the highest contributor on the back of promotional offers.

Realme’s market share was at 3% share, followed by Apple. The Cupertino-based tech giant witnessed 104% on-year growth as the Series 7 variants contributed two-thirds of the total shipments. It remained the leader in the premium segment (>Rs 30,000) with over 87% share.

Counterpoint Research Analyst Harshit Rastogi said consumers were highly receptive of the larger displays that the brands were pushing. “By pushing larger displays, the brands are also attracting smart band users as these bands have limited functionality due to smaller displays.”

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“The contribution of the >1.5-inch smartwatches increased to more than half of the total smartwatch market from just 11% last year. In addition, some of the most demanded features like SpO2 are now present at all price levels. Blood pressure monitoring as well as voice assistant are trickling down to lower price bands to attract budget-conscious customers.”