India is a growing market for a lot of new technology. The Indian wearable market has seen an impressive growth of 66% year-over-year (YOY). This makes it the biggest quarter for the wearables industry in India.
According to the recent figures, released by International Data Corporation’s Quarterly Wearable Trackers, Indian wearables market has seen an exponential growth of 40% in the second quarter of 2018. One million wearables were sold in 2018Q2 and Xiaomi took the lead amongst all of that, closely folowed by GOQii and Titan.Â
Apple Watch also emerged as a clear leader, as one in every 3 smart watche sold in India, was an Apple Watch. Despite of this Apple is not one of the top 5 wearable brand in the country.
According to Navkendar Singh, Assistant Research Director of IDC India, “Today, health is becoming a priority in urban India and consumers are opting for the fitness bands to monitor their routine, and are also comfortable to spend on fitness devices to have a healthy lifestyle. However, large numbers of users are still facing difficulties to see the real value from these devices in absence of any tangible benefits… Vendors need to develop services ecosystem around it to keep the users motivated and drive the repeat purchase”.
Xiaomi maintained the top spot with 45.8% market share and a 31% quarter over quarter growth. It is followed by 18.8% market share of GOQii which has triumph of its own, with a 74% annual growth. Titan’s Fastrack’s Reflex range has helped manage it secure third position with a 7.4% market share and a 56% sequential growth in overall shipments. Fitbit has shifted to the 4th spot although its shipments has quadrupled in this quarter as compared to the previous one.
Jaipal Singh, Associate Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India says, “After a relatively slow 2017, it looks like the market is finding its footing in 2018. Companies have increased their marketing spend, exploring alternate channels to sell their devices, and updating their platforms to increase the gamification and maximise the user engagement”.
According to the report, “this growth can be largely attributed to a precautionary measure against the expected implementation of national standard norms by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for the wearables category in the middle of 2018Q2. In anticipation of this, companies shipped high numbers of units before the BIS implementation in the country. Additionally, e-tailers brought in more shipments to meet the demand coming via various online shopping sales in June and July.”Â
 The market will continue to see more new players from the fashion e-commerce, IOT and startups verticals this quarter.