India's wearable device market contracted for the second consecutive quarter as consumer demand for smartwatches and earphones declined. According to International Data Corporation (IDC), sales of wearables dropped 20.7 percent year-over-year to 38 million units during Q3 2024. The decrease was driven by reduced product launches and cautious inventory management during the festive season.

For the first time since 2019, the average selling price (ASP) of wearables rose, up 1.3 percent to $21.3 (around ₹1,800).
Smartwatch shipments plummeted by 44.8 percent to 9.3 million units, despite manufacturers offering heavy discounts on online platforms to clear inventory. The ASP for smartwatches rose marginally by 1.4 percent to $26.2. Advanced smartwatches saw a shipment decline of 39.9 percent, though their market share inched up from 2.4 percent to 2.6 percent.

The earwear segment saw shipments fall 7.5 percent to 28.5 million units. Truly Wireless Stereo (TWS) products maintained dominance with a 73.2 percent market share, despite a slight 0.7 percent decline. Other earwear types, such as wired and over-ear models, suffered a 22 percent drop in shipments to 7.6 million units, while their ASP increased by 5.9 percent to $19.2. Noise (Nexxbase) continued to lead the smartwatch market, while boAT focused on clearing inventory during festive sales. Among the top five brands, Boult and Realme were the only ones to grow, recording increases of 32.5 percent and 56.5 percent, respectively.

Offline earwear shipments grew 9.4 percent year-over-year, raising their market share from 29.1 percent to 33.4 percent. Meanwhile, online earwear shipments fell 14.4 percent. In the smartwatch category, online channels grew for the third consecutive quarter, capturing a 63.8 percent market share.