Smartwatches drag India wearable market down for 5th straight quarter to 26.7 mn: IDC

New Delhi, Aug 18 (PTI) The Indian wearable market declined for the fifth consecutive quarter, with sales falling by 9.4 per cent to 26.7 million units in the April-June period due to a dip in supplies of smartwatches and true wireless stereo earbuds, market research firm IDC said on Monday.

Imagine Marketing, which sells products under the Boat brand, led the wearable market with a 28 per cent market share, despite a 4.8 per cent year-on-year decline in sales volume.

Noise followed Boat with a 13.1 per cent market share despite an 8.6 per cent decline in supplies. Boult, rebranded as GoBoult, cornered 10.9 per cent market share with growth of 21.8 per cent YoY, Oppo and OnePlus held 8 per cent share and realme 6.5 per cent share.

However, new form factors in wearable technology like smart rings, smart glasses and smart wristbands are finding traction among the customers, according to International Data Corporation’s (IDC) India Monthly Wearable Device Tracker.

"India's wearable device market declined 6.3 per cent year-over-year (YoY) in the first half of 2025, reaching 51.6 million units. The market also recorded its fifth consecutive quarterly decline, falling 9.4 per cent YoY to 26.7 million units in the second quarter (Q2) of 2025," the report said.

Despite a decline in the supplies, the average selling price (ASP) for overall wearables saw a modest increase of 2.2 per cent YoY to USD 19.2, about Rs 1,700, in the reported quarter, while it remained flat in the first half of 2025 at USD 18.7 or about Rs 1,630.

The shipments of all top smartwatch sellers, except Boult, in the country including Noise, Boat, Titan and Fire Boltt declined during the June 2025 quarter.

"Smartwatch shipments declined for the sixth consecutive quarter, dropping 28.4 per cent YoY to 6.6 million units in the second quarter of 2025. The category’s share within the overall wearables market also fell, decreasing to 24.9 per cent, down from 31.5 per cent a year ago," the report said.

After witnessing explosive growth in 2022 and 2023, the smartwatch market is now consolidating, primarily due to demand fatigue and saturation in the entry-level segment.

The earwear category saw a marginal decline of 1.2 per cent YoY, reaching 19.9 million units in the June 2025 quarter.

"Truly Wireless Stereo (TWS) segment maintained its dominant position with a 71.2 per cent share, though shipments declined 1.2 per cent YoY. Neckband-style earwear saw a more significant drop, with shipments down 16.1 per cent YoY. In contrast, the over-the-ear segment recorded strong growth, with shipments surging 97.4 per cent YoY to 1.5 million units," the report said.

In the TWS (Truly Wireless Stereo) segment, Boat continued to lead with a 31.9 per cent share despite a 6.9 per cent decline in YoY sales, followed by Boult with a 14.9 per cent share.

Among the emerging form factors, Smart Rings shipments recorded a YoY growth of 2.8 per cent with 75,000 units shipped in 2Q25. Ultrahuman, Gabit and Aabo continue to dominate with a segment collective share of 65 per cent.

Smart Glasses shipments surged to 50,000 units in the June 2025 quarter from 4,000 a year ago, fuelled by new launches from Meta and Lenskart.

"Smart Wristbands shipments jumped by 118.5 per cent YoY to 83,000 units in the second quarter 2025, driven primarily by the strong uptake of Samsung's Galaxy Fit3. Samsung accounted for 80.6 per cent share in the wristbands category in the second quarter of 2025" the report said. PTI PRS PRS MR