Stagnant innovation sees smartwatch sales decline in India

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₹1,700—23% less than ₹2,300 in the same period a year ago. This, the IDC report said, occurred “due to price cuts to clear inventory, and discounts and offers by brands." Vikas Sharma, senior market analyst for wearable devices at IDC India, said that the stagnation in the market partly occurred in anticipation of the festival period. “Several new model launches by incumbent brands are expected during the upcoming festive season, which may help in arresting this decline.

However, the annual shipments for smartwatches are expected to decline by 10% in 2024. We will also possibly see refreshed smartwatch portfolios by the smartphone vendors at low to mid-price segments," Sharma said. Market stakeholders, however, are concerned about the overall stature of the industry.

Sameer Mehta, co-founder and chief executive of Imagine Marketing—which operates the brand ‘Boat’ in India—said that the decline in smartwatch demand is in large part due to a price war in the industry. “The smartwatch industry faced considerable pressures from brands looking to build scale and volume at the expense of margin. Now, buyers have slowed down upon the will to spend on smartwatches on a budget, which will add the onus on Indian firms to make better, more premium products," Mehta said.

A senior industry consultant told Mint on condition of anonymity that the slowdown was largely expected owing to the way the market evolved in the past three years. “If you look closely, there was an extreme price war between multiple brands in India, which started pushing the average price of smartwatches down to a near-ridiculous margin. This was never going to be sustainable, and many brands were even selling smartwatches at less than ₹1,000.