D2C tech brands Noise and BoAt fuel growth in India’s wearables market in Q2: IDC

BoAt, for instance, became the second largest player in the watches space in Q1 of 2021, just two quarters after it forayed into smartwatches. Noise and BoAt currently account for over 55 percent of the watches category.

IDC categorises wearable devices as those that are in the form of a watch and capable of processing the data digitally are considered in the watch category, and it excludes the traditional analog and digital watches.

Gadgets maker Noise, which has been selling smart wearables since 2018, has been the market leader in the watch space for the fifth consecutive quarter. According to data from IDC, Noise had a market share of 28.6 percent in the quarter, closely followed by BoAt with a 26.9 percent share. Both brands led the wearables space in the previous quarter as well.

Another homegrown D2C technology brand Fire-boltt currently holds the fourth position with a 5.5 percent market share. Interestingly, Fire-boltt too, forayed into this space only three quarters ago.

The earwear category also saw a similar trajectory, with BoAt leading the market with a share of 45.5 percent. This also marks a significant increase from a share of 18.5 percent from the same quarter last year. It also led the Truly Wireless Stereo (TWS) category with a 39.6 percent share in the quarter. Devices like TWS, neckbands, wireless over-the-ear headphones that support either of the above-mentioned functionalities are counted in the earwear category by IDC. TWS category represents earbuds where BoAt sells its product – Airdopes.

BoAt is followed by OnePlus, a distant second with an 8.5 percent category share in the second quarter of this year. Samsung came in third with a 7.9 percent market share. “Even in the earwear category, the homegrown brands have a strong dominance as their share has reached 71.5% in 2Q21 from just 31.2% in 2Q20. Ptron, Zebronics, Noise, Portronics, Boult Audio, and Truke were among the key prominent brands that supported the dominance of homegrown brands in this category,” IDC said in its report.

However, Xiaomi maintains its lead in the wristband category with 38.9 percent share, followed by Oneplus and Titan with 21.7 percent and 21.3 percent share, respectively. As per the IDC data, the second wave of the COVID-19 had a marginal impact as the overall wearable shipments declined by 1.3 percent sequentially in Q2, but was quick to recover as the vendors stocked the channels to fulfill the pent-up consumer demand in June 2021.

According to IDC, brands have been quicker to leverage growing trends in the space to capture the audience. This, in addition to the affordability of the devices has helped these brands gain a significant market share.

“These brands have been immensely successful in gaining a significant portion of the watch market with competitive pricing, aggressive marketing, and faster adoption of new features. This new generation of homegrown brands are digitally native, aware of their limitations and selectively targeting the gaps,” Anisha Dumbre, Market Analyst, Client Devices, IDC India said.

From food and fashion to technology, the D2C wave is here to stay, and is also seeing increasing investor interest. According to an Inc42 report, the estimated size of the Indian D2C market by 2025 is $100 billion, with the consumer electronics and appliances space alone expected to hit $30.6 billion by 2025.

These brands, experts say, leverage the digital space to reach consumers directly. Cutting out the middlemen also helps them enjoy higher margins, thus fueling growth faster than traditional brands. BoAt for instance crossed Rs 100 crore in revenue within two years of its inception.

While D2C brands in the wearables space are expected to continue their growth strategy, IDC’s Dumbre says, “They need to be watchful of the China-based brands, who going forward will be aggressive by introducing more sub-brands and leveraging the ecosystem play.”