India's TWS market posted a 66% year-on-year growth in the first quarter, according to Counterpoint Research.
India’s TWS (True Wireless earbuds) market posted a 66% year-on-year (YoY) growth in the first quarter (Q1 2022), according to the latest research from Counterpoint Technology Market Research’s IoT service. The growth was driven by the strong value proposition offered by local brands to outshine the Chinese vendors. Besides, aggressive celebrity endorsements and domestic manufacturing helped boost the demand in this segment.
“Indian brands’ shipments more than doubled in Q1 2022 to capture 72% share in the overall India TWS market. The top four positions were taken by India-based brands, which captured more than half of the total TWS market. Indian brands were very quick in terms of upgrading their product portfolio. They released some of their new models with the most popular ANC feature. Indian brands put more emphasis on targeting the low-price tier (less than INR 2,000 or $26) and forming partnerships to market their devices,” said Senior Research Analyst Anshika Jain.
“In addition to this, there has been a growing emphasis on domestic manufacturing, which led to an overall YoY decline of 19% in ASP in Q1 2022. Local production stood at 14% this quarter with 113% QoQ growth. We expect brands to go aggressive in the second half of this year to introduce made-in-India devices. boAt is expected to locally manufacture more than half of its total portfolio in the coming period. Other top players like Noise and realme are also expected to release locally-made devices within the first half of 2022,” she added.
Talking about premium TWS market growth, Senior Research Analyst Liz Lee said, “The premium segment (more than INR 5,000 or $65) registered 53% YoY growth in Q1 2022 led by Apple, Samsung and Sony. Apple and Samsung shipments were driven by their loyal customers, advanced product portfolios and growing smartphone ecosystems. Sony was the fastest growing brand in the premium segment, having refreshed its portfolio with two new devices. In terms of models, the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2, Sony WF-C500, Nothing Ear 1, Apple Airpods Pro and Airpods 3rd Generation were the best TWS devices in the premium segment.”
Source: India Hearables (TWS) Shipments, Model Tracker, Q1 2022
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