Counterpoint Research recently published a report on the smartwatch industry in India along with some interesting statistics for the year 2023. Here are the highlights:
- Smartwatches continue to be one of the fastest growing categories in the consumer electronics space but the rate of growth is starting to reduce – from triple digits to now 50% y-o-y!
- 50%+ of the smartwatches sold in India are priced under Rs 2,000. The same number, last year (2022) was around 26%.
- The erstwhile innovative features of smartwatches in 2022 are becoming hygiene, thereby, forcing the brands to keep innovating across new areas at break neck pace
- Top 3 brands – Fireboltt, noise, and boat, continue to dominate the market with 70%+ share
- Surprisingly, the premium smartwatch brands like Apple and Samsung registered a decline in 2023!
Years 2021 and 2022 were fabulous year for smartwatches as the category exploded with proliferation of affordable range of smartwatches by the Indian brands. The innovation back then kept coming across 4 planks:
- Screen & Size : Largely the screen size & display technology. Starting with 1.4inch to giant 2inch screens & display technology – Retina, LED, AMOLED and so on.
- Features : Health & fitness features like SPO2, HR, Sports modes, bluetooth calling, watch faces, Integrated games & so on.
- Design : Straps – plastic, silicon, metal et al. and body of the smartwatch
- Marketing : Largely celeb endorsements and some collabs/licensing
The brands played across the combination of these and kept adding to the assortment at the break neck speed. By early 2023, most of these features became hygiene.
For example – back in 2021, the consumers and retailers were raving about the bluetooth calling support feature. Similarly, the features like SPO2, temperature and hear rate were hugely sought after during the COVID era and consumers were willing to pay premium for these. A sub Rs 2,000 price point was considered to be a ‘killer’ value proposition. None of these hold true anymore!
With such erstwhile differentiations losing its sheen, the brand mostly fought the battle on the price point. The prices kept crashing all through and as the report claims, 50%+ watches sold in India are prices below Rs 2,000!
So, where do brands go from here? There are several possible paths and some of the initiatives have already begun.
- Keep the push on the features : Extend the calling feature to eSIMs or physical SIM. Basically, the watch becomes a phone in itself and then the possibilities are endless. The only glitch here would be price point and the battery life!
- Play the health card in a big way : Bump up the health features but at the same time also give meaningful insights to the consumers via a good quality app
- Push on the OS : The OS in the entry level watches is quite rudimentary so it’s only fair that someone makes a definitive push towards high level OS like Wear OS etc. Again, the price point glitch will remain.
- Diversify into new types of wearables : The new form factor smart ring is already in the market. There are a few more such extensions worth exploring.
The most logical thing to do for the market leaders would be all of the above and some more. Else they risk losing market share to competitors which are an eclectic mix of players – a) traditional brand like FastTrack on one hand, and b) emerging brands like Boult on the other.
Whatever path the brands take, one thing is certain that smart watches will definitely get smarter. Also, the competitive pressure will make sure that they continue to remain cheaper as well. We can also expect prolieferation of new smart devices – rings, bands, patches et al.
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Interesting ! Exciting times for wearables in India!
Expect smarter watches at aggressive prices as brands battle it out on features and health focus.
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