IDC: Wearable device shipments in India to drop 11.3% in 2024

According to IDC's tracking report, India's wearable device shipments reached 119 million units for the whole year, a year-on-year decrease of 11.3%. The market also shrank for the third consecutive quarter, falling 8.7% in the fourth quarter of last year to 25.9 million units. In 2024, the average selling price (ASP) of overall wearable devices fell by 7.1% to $19.8, after a double-digit decline in the previous five years.

Key highlights for 2024:

Smartwatch shipments fell 34.4% year-on-year to 35 million units. The share of smartwatches in wearable devices fell from 39.8% in 2023 to 29.4%. The lack of meaningful innovation and technological advancement led to weak consumer demand. The average selling price of smartwatches fell from $25.8 to $23.5, a decrease of 9.1%. The market share of premium smartwatches also fell by 13.1% year-on-year.

Headphones grew modestly by 3.8% year-on-year to 83.5 million units. True wireless stereo (TWS) market share reached a record 70.9% from 67.2% a year ago, up 9.4% year-on-year. Shipments of earphones grew by 83.6% to 4.5 million units. The annual average selling price was $17.6, down 3.0%.

In the entire wearables category, Boat (Imagine Marketing) continues to lead, with a market share of 27.6% from 26.0%. It is followed by Noise (Nexxbase), with a market share of 12.2% in 2024. Bolt is the only company in the top five to achieve a 10.8% growth. In the TWS field, the top three companies, Boat, Boult, and Nexxbase, have achieved double-digit annual growth rates.

Shipments in offline channels grew 7.2%, accounting for 37.8% of the total, up from 31.3% a year ago. After several years of double-digit growth, shipments in online channels fell 19.7% year-on-year. This growth was mainly hampered by smartwatches, whose online shipments fell 43.0%. Headphone sales also fell 5.1% year-on-year.

Smart rings continue to grow, with shipments of 323,000 units in 2024, up from 113,000 units in 2023. The average selling price of rings increased by 1.9% to $174.7. In 2024, Ultrahuman leads with a market share of 40.1%, Pi Ring ranks second with a market share of 20.4%, and Aabo ranks third with a market share of 16.8%.