India has overtaken China as the world's largest market for smartwatches, according to recent research from data and analytics company Counterpoint. The country was able to surpass other global markets in the smartwatch segment thanks to record-breaking shipments in Q3 2022. Affordably priced companies in the basic smartwatch class, such as Noise, Fire-Boltt, and Boat, drove sales and accounted for 30% of worldwide smartwatch shipments to India. For the third quarter of 2022, India outperformed other significant worldwide markets with a huge 171 percent rise year over year.
India, the World’s Biggest Market for Smartwatches
It's interesting to note that Counterpoint divided smartwatches into two categories: high-level OS smartwatches and basic smartwatches. Apple and Samsung continue to dominate the first category with their respective Watch product lines, the Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch, while Garmin, Amazfit, and Huawei round out the top five.
North America and China, which accounted for 25% and 16% of worldwide smartwatch shipments, respectively, are surpassed by India, according to Counterpoint research. Thanks to substantial innovation in the budget smartwatch market and accelerating demand, India experienced an extraordinary rise of 171 percent YoY in Q3 2022 in the segment, moving it from third to first in the world.
India's development to become the world's largest market has been fueled by the basic smartwatch category. Three Indian companies, Noise, Fire-Boltt, and Boat, are the market leaders in the segment, which includes smartwatches with minimal operating systems (such as RTOS) and no functionality for adding any extra apps. Additionally, Xiaomi and Huawei are less prevalent in the market, while Noise narrowly defeated Fire-Boltt to gain the top spot, according to a Counterpoint analysis. Due to the success of their respective Galaxy Watch 5 series and Apple Watch Series 8 models, Apple and Samsung both experienced a significant quarter-over-quarter increase. China's continued "zero-COVID" policy, which has resulted in frequent shutdowns and lockdowns and affected consumer demand for smartwatches, which are typically seen as an accessory rather than an electronic necessity, is said to be the cause of the country's decline in growth in this segment and loss of its top spot.
