India Wearables Market Witnesses 144% Growth in 2020

Indian wearables market has witnessed a 144.3 percent year-over-year (YoY) growth in 2020. This has driven by the record shipments of wearables and a watch, exiting the year with 36.4 million unit shipments, says the industry tracker International Data Corporation (IDC).

So far, India was the only country in the top 20 to witness triple-digit growth in wearables in 2020 and also continues to be the third-largest wearables market globally, showed IDC Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker.
Jaipal Singh, Associate Research Manager, Client Devices, ICD India says, "2020 was a year of transition in the audio segment from wired to wireless devices.”

He adds, "In 2021, this category will further migrate to more sophisticated devices with enhanced audio experience being the central theme for all vendors."

Earwear device shipments grew more than threefold in 2020 compared to the previous year, mainly driven by the affordable launches, and expanding use cases beyond entertainment like virtual meetings and e-learning requirements.

In a statement, Anisha Dumbre, Market Analyst, IDC India says, "Hearables became one of the most sought-after electronic categories in 2020. The newer version of hearables is much better in managing the increased audio usages and improved aesthetic and design also made them the trendsetter."

Truly Wireless Stereo (TWS) devices have been the top gainer considering a tenfold increase with shipments making it to 11.3 million units in 2020. The October-December 2020 recorded the biggest quarter for wearables in India, maintaining triple-digit growth. On the whole, the vendors shipped 15.2 million units in Q4 2020, growing 198.2 percent YoY.

This has been the first quarter when shipments of watches have crossed the one million mark as vendors shipped 1.3 million units during the quarter. After the introduction of wrist bands into the Indian market, 2020 has been the first year when the category reported a decline.

However, watches saw a 139.3 percent YoY growth with 2.6 million unit shipments in 2020. Smartwatches, which can run third-party applications on the device itself, accounted for a 24.5 percent share in the watch category, and Apple, continues to lead the smartwatch category with a 51.0 percent share in 2020.