On course to Rs 10,000-cr divisional sales by 2026: Suparna Mitra, CEO, Titan’s watches & wearables division

After clocking Rs 5,000 crore sales in FY23, Suparna Mitra - CEO of Titan Company Ltd’s watches & wearables division - is confident of doubling the number by 2026. In a recent conversation with Business Today, Mitra, 54, says that the division under her fold is has grown steadily in the current financial year - in line with their expectations.

After witnessing major jump in sales during the April-June quarter, the division has grown by double digits in the July-September quarter. According to Mitra, as a result, during the first half of FY24 the watches and wearables sales have grown by about 20 per cent over the same period last year.

“We closed FY2023 with a Rs 5,000 crore consumer price turnover for the first time. In fact, it was the first year when we crossed the Rs 4,000 crore and Rs 5,000 crore yearly turnover mark for the watches & wearables division. And since then we are witnessing all-round growth and all our three segments - mass market analog, premium watches and smartwatches - are firing well,” she told Business Today.

While the core brand Titan is “doing well”, its smartwatches segment is growing by leaps and bounds. Last year, the company recorded the newly introduced smartwatches division clocking Rs 500 crore sales. In FY2024, it is going to nearly double the number, says Mitra. And with October-December period being a festive quarter, she looks more optimistic. “The December quarter is usually big for us with Dussehra and Diwali falling inside it. So far that has also gone well,” she says.

Overall, in the April-June quarter, while the division recorded 32 per cent year-on-year growth in turnover, in the April-September period the growth has been in excess of 20 per cent over the same period last year. The growth was primarily driven by smartwatches and premium analog watches. While mass market segments continue to linger due to poor consumer sentiment in the lower socio-economic strata. “It is the middle and upper class India were the demand is really strong as consumer are upgrading and are in the mood to spend on items like watches. However, there is some stress observed in the lower to lower-middle class segments.”