boAt, one of the most popular consumer electronics startups, started by selling earphones and now sells multiple lines of products. This also includes smartwatches. The company’s smartwatch shipment share fell in Q1 2022 to 17.8% compared to 23.7% in Q1 2021. Since early 2021, many new brands have entered the market, and in addition to this, there were chipset shortages which also contributed to problems with manufacturing and shipping.
Regardless, boAt registered 106% YoY growth during the year and stood in the third position behind Fire-Boltt and Noise, taking the second and first position, respectively. The data comes from Counterpoint’s India Smartwatch Shipments Model Tracker, Q1 2022. Note that all of this data is for the Indian market.
Apple and OnePlus Also Made Good Strides
According to the report, Apple grew 104% YoY in Q1 2022, with the Watch Series 7 contributing to two-thirds of the shipments in India. Apple kept its lead in the premium segment smartwatches in India with over 87% share.
In the Rs 10,000 - Rs 15,000 segment, OnePlus took the first position. At the price range, OnePlus had a market share of 45%.
During the quarter, Xiaomi also registered a strong growth of 238%, with its Redmi Watch 2 Lite performing pretty well in the market.
Amazfit didn’t have a good quarter, though. The company’s sales declined 35% YoY in Q1 2022. The GTS 2 Mini contributed to 30% of its shipments. Counterpoint expects GTS 2 Mini’s newer model to gain some of the market share back.
Fire-Boltt had a pretty good quarter which helped the company take the second position in the smartwatch shipment share during the quarter. Noise, as mentioned above, kept its lead in the market share. Noise is one of the most recognised brands in India when it comes to affordable smartwatches and electronic accessories.
It will be interesting to see whether any other smartwatch player can fight with Apple in the premium category.
