India emerges third largest wearable market in Q2, 2019

The Indian wearable market registered record growth with three million wearables shipped in the second quarter of 2019 alone. This cements India's position as the third-largest wearable market in the world, after China and the US, says IDC in its Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device tracker. The wearable shipments primarily comprise ear-wear, wristband and watches amongst others.

According to IDC, the India market for wearable devices grew 30.9 per cent quarter-over-quarter in the second quarter of 2019 and 123.6 per cent compared to the same quarter a year ago. Jaipal Singh, Associate Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India commented, "We are seeing a shift in lifestyle devices segment wherein consumers are adopting new kind of devices to track health and fitness that is reflecting in the uptake of the wearable segment. Brands continue to augment newer health tracking features and increasingly spending on marketing, and this is helping wearables to become one of the preferred choices amongst the fitness enthusiasts to support an active lifestyle."

Over the last few years, the wearable market was dominated by wristbands. For the first time, ear-worn wearables have overtaken wrist bands, with the market shipments of 55.9 per cent, followed by wrist bands at 35.2 per cent and watches at 6.9 per cent. Earwear shipments accounted for 1.69 million units in the second quarter, up from 0.76 million units shipped in the first quarter of this year. This category grew 122.7 per cent (quarter-over-quarter) and 374.9 per cent annually in 2Q19. This earwear category includes wireless earphones that track health and fitness or enable smart assistants at the touch of a button or through hot word detection.