India is Now the Biggest Smartwatch Market in the World: Report

Joyous news for the Indian wearables industry! India’s smartwatch market saw a growth of 171 per cent year over year making it the biggest smartwatch market in the world in Q3 2022, says a recent report.

According to Counterpoint Research’s latest ‘global smartwatch model tracker’ report, the shipments in the smartwatch market noted a rise of 30 per cent year over year in the third quarter of the calendar year. Moreover, it appears that every other market has registered growth in the category, apart from Europe and China.

As per the researchers, the festive season falling in the third quarter of the year could be the primary reason behind the record figures of the year. Senior Analyst Anshika Jain, speaking to the media after the research report was made public, said, “India’s smartwatch market grew 171 per cent (year-over-year) in Q3 2022 to become the biggest market in the world. The main factor behind the record quarter was India’s festive season. Indian brands expanding their product portfolios at affordable price points and emphasis on local manufacturing also contributed to the growth,”

As for the brands, Apple registered a 48 per cent growth in the third quarter of the year, thanks to the successful run Apple Watch 8 Series is enjoying.

Another brand that displayed tremendous growth in the smartwatch category is Noise. The brand registered a growth of 218 per cent year over year to reclaim its top position in the Indian market segment. The brand that paid the price of this extraordinary growth was Fire-Boltt. The brand slipped to the second position in smartwatch sales in the country, losing the maximum chunk of its sales to Noise.

Samsung too had a good third quarter with a growth of 62 per cent quarter over quarter. The growth in Samsung’s numbers was primarily influenced by the well-received new Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 series, the report highlighted.

Research Analyst Woojin Son, while speaking about the research report, said, “Among the types of smartwatches, the basic smartwatch, with relatively lighter versions of operating systems (OSs) and more affordable prices, has been the key driver in sharply boosting the global market recently. While HLOS smartwatch shipments grew 23 per cent (year-over-year) in Q3 2022, basic smartwatch shipments more than doubled (year-over-year), accounting for 35 per cent of the total market.”

The North American smartwatch market, on the other hand, showed a growth of 21 per cent in the third quarter of the year. Now at the second position in terms of sales globally, it was the largest market from quarter four of 2020 to quarter two of 2022. However, India’s ineffable upward trend in the third quarter outplaced North America from the top spot with ease.

Meanwhile, Counterpoint Research also released a separate report titled “Southeast Asia Monthly Smartphone Channel Share Tracker” a few weeks back. The report highlighted a 29 per cent year over year growth registered by the premium smartphone category in the key Southeast Asian markets in the third quarter of 2022. However, the report also said that the total smartphone shipments in the Southeast Asian region showed a 10% year over year dropped in the same quarter.