The smartwatch and wearables market in India has been rapidly growing in the recent past, with a strong love for homegrown brands. Boat, FireBolt, and Noise are some of the leaders dominating the smart wearables market while household names such as Samsung and Apple are finding it difficult to get a solid footing.
Currently, more than 130 million smartwatches are being sold in the country annually. Local smartwatch brands comprise over 20% of this market. In comparison, Samsung holds only a 2% market share.
Apart from these brands, there are also many knockoff brands in the mix that hold a large share of the units sold as well. And now, they might be the problem.
Is Quality a Factor for the Indian Segment?
Most of the smartwatches being sold in the Indian market are faulty; this is a fact. Other than the more established brands such as Boat, a knockoff smartwatch can barely run fitness tracking features accurately or seamlessly connect with other devices.
But with the advent of established brands providing wearables at a market-friendly price, there is a case for the Indian market actually demanding quality tech gadgets. The Apple Watch retails for upwards of $350 in India, while a fully functional smartwatch from Fire-Boltt or Boat starts at $12-$15.
So, while many off-brand watches may lack quality, the average Indian consumer has access to quality smartwatches at a fraction of the price range provided by the larger brands. But on the other hand, the local brands are under constant competition from the knockoff brands to keep their prices low.
The primary competition for these homegrown brands is no longer giants such as Samsung or Apple. Rather, it’s hordes of nameless Chinese smartwatches that are taking over this large potent market.
The number of knockoff smartwatch brands in India increased by almost 80% in 2023, according to a survey. The co-founder of Boat also spoke about the situation claiming that the presence of knockoff brands was causing the ASPs to dramatically decline. So, while they indeed lack quality, there is a strong demand for these products.
A Constant Struggle to Retain Market Share
Indian smart device brands are stepping on each other’s toes. While most customers, upon realizing that the cheap knockoff smartwatch lacks quality, do prefer to buy a better-quality smartwatch. Yet, these brands are still the first choice for many.
As a result, the market is now moving towards saturation. While there was 150% year-on-year growth only a few years ago, now it’s down to single-digit figures. Right now, the brands are concentrating on releasing more products into the market so that it can capture all the customer bases across all ages. New segments such as smart rings are also being ventured into by Boat.
Unless a major change sweeps away the high volume of knockoff brands, the domestic players have very little wiggle room left.
