Smartwatch supplies to India drop 30% in 2024 on unsatisfactory experience, lack of innovation: Report

While market leaders in the low-cost smart watch segment suffered a major blow, the premium segment with smartwatches bucked the trend, and their supplies grew 147% year-on-year

New Delhi: Smartwatch supplies to India dropped 30 per cent in 2024, mainly due to unsatisfactory experience, lack of innovation and unclear product portfolio, a Counterpoint Research report said on Monday.

While market leaders in the low-cost smartphone watch segment suffered a major blow, the premium segment with smartwatches priced above Rs 20,000 apiece bucked the trend, and their supplies grew 147 per cent year-on-year.

Counterpoint estimates show shipments of the top three sellers – Fire Boltt, boAt, and Noise – were jolted by negative customer sentiments.

Fire-Boltt shipments dropped by 54 per cent, boAt supplies declined by 47 per cent, and Noise recorded a 26 per cent fall.

Even after a decline in supplies, the three brands led the market.

Noise led the market, with a 27 per cent market share, followed by Fire-Boltt with a 19 per cent share (down from 30 per cent in 2023).

The share of boAt slipped to 13 per cent in 2024 from 17 per cent in 2023.

Boult supplies remained almost flat in 2024, while Titan, the parent brand of Fastrack, was the only key device maker to register growth at 35 per cent YoY.

“India’s smartwatch shipments fell 30 per cent YoY in 2024, the first major drop after several years of steady growth, due to weaker upgrade cycles and first-time buyers’ unsatisfactory user experiences,” Counterpoint Research report said.

The market research firm said the slower replacement cycle was primarily due to limited differentiation in the lower price segments, lack of innovation, low sensor accuracy, an unclear product portfolio that made it difficult to select the right model, and an unsatisfactory experience with initial smartwatch purchases.

Declining first-time users and price wars further led to a decline in value and volume, it added.

The dip in growth is expected to be only a temporary pause, suggesting that the adoption rates could rise in the future as the smartwatch attach rate is still low, the report said.

“As consumer awareness on health tracking and the necessary sensors grows, we expect users to be more inclined to invest in high-quality products that can transform their experience.

“OEMs should prioritise rebuilding customer trust in this segment to stimulate demand. The change will occur gradually, as OEMs bring new features and consumers replace their older smartwatches, leading us to project a modest single-digit percentage decline in 2025,” Balbir Singh, research analyst at Counterpoint Research, said.

The premium smartwatch segment surged 147 per cent YoY, driven by experienced users upgrading their devices, according to the report.

Among global brands, Apple and CMF by Nothing saw the highest YoY growth.

Counterpoint Research senior research analyst Anshika Jain said the device makers are now prioritising improving user experience and incorporating new features like NFC, GPS, and cellular connectivity while slightly moving up the price ladder and targeting kids’ segments as well.

“Interestingly, the premium segment (Rs 20,000 and above) bucked the trend and surged 147 per cent YoY as some experienced users gradually moved to advanced smartwatches with better health insights, smartphone integration, and other features. Apple, Samsung and OnePlus were the top three players in the premium segment,” Jain said.

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