India TWS Shipment Archives

India TWS Shipments Double YoY in Q3 2022; Indian Brands Capture Record 79% Share

boAt grew 128% YoY to mark its nine successive quarters of lead, while Noise stood second for the fourth consecutive quarter.
OnePlus bounced back strongly in the top-five rankings with a 6% share in Q3 2022.
Almost four in five TWS shipped in India were from an Indian brand.
Domestic manufacturing saw a record 288% quarterly growth this year, contributing to 34% of the total shipments.
Online channel maintained 79% of the volume with Flipkart in the lead.

New Delhi, Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul, London, San Jose, Buenos Aires – November 17, 2022

India’s TWS (True Wireless Stereo earbuds) shipments doubled YoY in Q3 2022, according to the latest research from Counterpoint’s IoT Service. The growth was primarily driven by festive season inventory to meet the strong pent-up demand, multiple new launches, discount events and promotions.

Commenting on brand performance, Senior Research Analyst Anshika Jain said, “The top five TWS brands in India – boAt, Noise, Mivi, OnePlus and Boult Audio – accounted for almost 70% of the total shipments. OnePlus made a comeback in the top five driven by two recent launches – Nord Buds and Nord Buds CE – at an affordable price point. Indian brands showed the fastest YoY growth of 143% to reach their highest shipments ever in Q3 2022. Launching multiple devices according to customer needs, effective marketing tactics and aggressive participation in sales events have been their major growth drivers. Moreover, strong growth was observed in Q3 due to festive season sales and a focus on local manufacturing. People also use these devices for gifting purposes during festivals like Raksha Bandhan and for corporate gifts.”

On best-selling models, Jain said, “The top 10 TWS models captured 41% of the total TWS shipments. These models mostly catered to the low-mid price segment (INR 1,000-INR 3,000). Top player boAt captured seven spots in the top-10 best-selling model rankings. With a 9% share, the Airdopes 131 remained the top model for the sixth successive quarter. OnePlus took two spots with its recently launched models Nord Buds and Nord Buds CE grabbing a 2% share each. Noise took one spot with its best-performing buds VS102 model, which had a 3% share in Q3 2022.”

On distribution channels, Associate Research Director Liz Lee said, “It is still challenging for brands to strengthen their presence in offline channels, as a huge share of 79% still comes from the online market. In addition, the TWS online segment has a strong footprint on Flipkart, which has more than half of the total online shipment share. Key players Mivi and Boult Audio have recently stepped into the offline space and plan to go aggressive on their expansion offline. Online-centric brand Truke has also aimed to enter the offline market in the immediate quarter. We may witness brands existing in both online and offline marketplaces exploring and partnering with big retail chain companies to increase their offline presence.”

Source: India Hearables (TWS) Shipments, Model Tracker, Q3 2022

Summary

Dominant Indian brands lost a small share to Chinese and global brands in Q3 2022.

Indian brands grew 143% YoY in Q3 2022 driven by boAt, Noise, Mivi, Boult Audio and Ptron. All the new entrants in Q3 2022 were local brands, namely Mobatree, 5 Elements, Duffer and Lyne (a U&I sub-brand). Besides, Indian brands had high penetration in the low-price segment (<INR 2,000 or <$50), with a cumulative share of 95%.
Chinese brands saw an increased share of 13% in Q3 2022. OnePlus drove this growth by offering a feature-rich device, the Nord Buds CE, at the lowest price point in its entire TWS portfolio. The good performance of the Nord Buds model also contributed to its growth. realme and OPPO also offered multiple new advanced TWS devices that further supported the growth of Chinese brands.
Global brands, which mostly cater to the premium segment (>INR 5,000), strengthened their growth with Apple launching its much-awaited new model, the Airpods Pro (2^nd Gen). Global brands saw 91% QoQ and 9% YoY growth in Q3 2022, which was driven by Samsung, JBL and Apple.

Background

Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the TMT (technology, media and telecom) industry. It services major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are seasoned experts in the high-tech industry.

Analyst Contacts:

Anshika Jain

Liz Lee

Counterpoint Research
press(at)counterpointresearch.com

50% of Current TWS Users in India Likely to Upgrade Within a Year: Survey

About 60% of the current TWS users plan to stick to TWS for their next hearable purchase.
Battery life, sound clarity and call quality will be the key buying factors for the next TWS purchase.
The average selling price (ASP) of India’s TWS market is expected to rise in the near term.

London, San Diego, Buenos Aires, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Beijing, Seoul – December 21, 2021

Half of the current TWS users in India plan to buy their next TWS device in a year or less, according to a consumer survey conducted by Counterpoint Research’s Market Lens Service. Further, the ASP of India’s TWS market is expected to rise to the INR 5,000-INR 10,000 price band. About 60% of the current TWS users in India plan to stick to TWS for their next hearable purchase. Battery life, sound clarity and voice quality are the top three factors that will be considered by the respondents for their next TWS purchase.

Due to COVID-19, most parts of India experienced lockdowns or restrictions that led to extended work/study from home. As a result, a big portion of the respondents, irrespective of the type of occupation, ended up spending money on hearable devices, like TWS. The survey numbers indicate that the market will continue to get solid support even after the pandemic.

Commenting on the study’s overview, Research Analyst Arushi Chawla said, “The popularity of TWS is growing swiftly. According to Counterpoint’s India Hearables (TWS) Shipment Tracker, India saw TWS shipment of 7.9 million units in Q3 2021 with the country starting to recover from COVID-19 restrictions. Our latest consumer survey deep-dives to understand the past purchase journey of TWS along with future preferences toward hearables, particularly TWS. This study also reveals insights on the TWS design preference and outlook towards Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and health and fitness features in a TWS device.”

Source: India TWS Consumer Study, Counterpoint Research

Being the leading TWS brand in India, boAt is also consumers’ most preferred brand for a future TWS purchase. About 60% of the current TWS users prefer boAt for their next TWS purchase. boAt is followed by JBL, Samsung, OnePlus and Apple. boAt’s popularity continues to grow – from 28% of the respondents currently using boAt TWS earbuds to 58% of the respondents preferring it as their next purchase. JBL’s TWS devices also appear to be climbing up the ladder in market share – from less than 10% of respondents using JBL currently to more than 40% preferring it for the next purchase.

Chawla added, “There are a diverse set of players in both TWS and smartphone markets. With fierce competition in maturing segments like smartphones, emerging segments like hearables, especially TWS, open fresh opportunities for new players as well as smartphone brands looking to expand their portfolios and strengthen their ecosystems.”

Discussing future consumer preferences, Senior Analyst Pavel Naiya said, “TWS, despite being a newer technology in India, has a bigger list of market players and hence more options for the consumers. As a result, the market share is spread across many players. However, boAt continues to be the top player. boAt TWS is most preferred for its sound clarity, followed by battery life. Price always plays a key role in finalizing a purchase, especially in a segment that holds a lot of scope to expand and innovate. The INR 5,000 and above price band currently contributes 27% share to the TWS market. But it will have a stronger grip in future as about 40% of the respondents are planning to purchase their next device from the same price band.”

Methodology

The study was conducted in India using an online survey panel of a heterogeneous group of TWS users. A sample of 1,027 respondents was collected using the quota-sampling methodology for better representation of the universe as per the current TWS brand share in the market. We expect the results to have a statistical precision of +/- 4%.

Background

Analyst Contacts

Arushi Chawla

Pavel Naiya

Counterpoint Research

India TWS Shipments Reach Record 8 mn in Q3 2021; boAt Continues to Dominate while Apple Bounces Back

boAt set the record of being the leader for the fifth consecutive quarter with 171% YoY growth.
The top five brands reached their highest ever shipments in a single quarter.
Apple led the premium segment (>INR 5,000) with a 63% share while Nothing managed to take the third spot in the segment in the first quarter of its launch.
Local brands continued to record the highest penetration with a 63% share.
The average selling price (ASP) was down 22% YoY.

New Delhi, Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul, London, San Jose, Buenos Aires – November 2, 2021

India’s TWS market posted 55% YoY growth in Q3 2021 to reach the highest shipments ever at around 8 million, according to the latest research from Counterpoint’s IoT service. Brands pushed high amounts of inventory into the retail channels ahead of the festive season. Along with this, new entrants, discount offers, sales events and brands expanding into the low-price segments with feature-rich TWS offerings were the major success factors for the TWS growth in India during the quarter.

Commenting on the overall market, Senior Research Analyst Anshika Jain said, “The Indian TWS market witnessed highest ever shipments in a single quarter in Q3 2021 driven by the strong festive planning, new launches and multiple sales events on major e-commerce platforms as well as brands’ own websites. We also saw the maximum number of new launches in Q3 2021 with a major emphasis on the low- to mid-price segments (less than INR 2,999). In this quarter, brands like realme and 1MORE followed the partner brand/sub-brand strategy with the launch of Dizo and Omthing respectively to expand their reach and enhance competitiveness.”

“In terms of features, there was an increased emphasis on Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and gaming. Key players such as Truke and Ptron came up with their first ever gaming TWS earbuds. Besides, prominent brands introduced various new models in the premium segment as well for tech enthusiasts. For instance, the OnePlus Buds Pro, Samsung Galaxy Buds 2, Nothing Ear 1 and JBL Pro Plus were presented as new alternatives, which further increased the ASP of the premium segment by 20% QoQ, apart from Apple’s huge shipments contribution,” she added.

Talking about domestic manufacturing, Research Associate Anam Padha said, “Domestic manufacturing is gaining more significance as more brands continue to partner ODMs to bring made-in-India devices and enhance their production capabilities. Noise partnered with Optiemus, promising to offer multiple locally made devices in the coming quarters. Similarly, realme announced a partnership with Khy Electronics. Another Indian brand, Ambrane, set up a unit to locally manufacture audio devices. Ptron also elevated the progress of its domestic manufacturing capabilities this quarter and expects to double its TWS revenue by next year.”

“With domestic manufacturing on the rise, the quarter saw boAt offering its first made-in-India TWS model Airdopes 101 while Ptron launched its second locally produced TWS model Bassbuds Ultima, equipped with ANC,” she added.

Source: India Hearables (TWS) Shipments by Model Tracker, Q3 2021

Market Summary:

boAt captured a 35.8% share in the overall India TWS market in Q3 2021. This also represents its highest shipments volume since its inception. Apart from its strong integrated marketing strategy and keeping up with the trends of multiple launches and value-for-money offerings, it also actively participated in multiple sales events, like the much-awaited Amazon Great Freedom Sale and Amazon Prime Day Sale. It even hosted a ‘boAthead Days’ sales event on its e-brand store. Above all, its model Airdopes 131 was the bestseller for the second time and reached 1 million units for the first time.
realme rose to the second spot with an 8.1% share driven by the success of its mid-range ANC device Buds Air 2 and latest release Buds Q2 Neo in the low-price segment. In addition, realme stood number one in the mid-price segment of INR 3,000-INR 4,999. The Chinese brand also hosted a ‘realme Fan Festival’ event on its e-commerce website to provide the latest devices at a more affordable price point.
Noise had a 7.7% share and moved one step up to grab the third spot driven by multiple offerings in the low-price segment. Like boAt, it also launched new devices during the Amazon Prime Day Sale and offered multiple discounts. It added newer TWS devices such as the Buds VS102, Buds VS103 and Buds VS303 to its low-range VS series during the quarter.
Apple saw record shipments, taking the fourth spot with a 7.6% share in the Indian TWS market. Its model Airpods (Gen 2) performed well this quarter. Inventory for the festive season, Apple Days sales event and Back to School program accelerated its growth. Moreover, additional inventory on account of Apple’s plan to bundle free Airpods with the iPhone 12 series in the fourth quarter helped the brand achieve 67% YoY growth.
Boult Audio, an Indian brand, took the fifth spot for the first time ever. It held a 5.3% share with 147% YoY growth. Its portfolio covers the entry-level to mid-range segments. It derived this substantial demand by not only offering multiple new launches at a low price point but also putting its models on discounts during Amazon’s Great Freedom Festival.

Other Emerging and Fastest-growing Brands in Q3 2021:

Dizo: Among the new entrants in Q3 2021, Dizo was the fastest growing brand. It introduced four new models in the TWS market within the first quarter of its launch. The major highlight of the brand was its introductory pricing and focus on features like ANC and ‘transparency’ mode at an affordable price point.
Nothing: Nothing broke into the top three brands in the premium TWS segment in its debut quarter by capturing a 7% share in the segment. Competitive pricing and differentiated design helped the brand gain good mindshare among consumers.
Truke: Truke was another fast-growing brand, with its shipments tripling YoY. The online-centric brand plays in the entry-level and low-price segments. Truke also launched its first ever gaming series TWS earbuds in Q3 2021.
OPPO grew 63% YoY and had its TWS products spread across all price tiers. Its latest release in the low-price band, the Enco Buds, drove decent volumes for the brand.
OnePlus added one more SKU to its TWS portfolio. However, the OnePlus Buds Pro mainly caters to the premium segment. OnePlus also offered discounts on its existing models during the Amazon Freedom Sale and at Amazon Rakhi Store.
Samsung also launched a new model, the Galaxy Buds 2, and pushed its sales by offering it free with the purchase of new Samsung phones Galaxy Z Flip3 and Z Fold3. Its existing models also performed well, which helped the brand take the second spot in the premium segment (>INR 5,000).

Background

Analyst Contacts:

Anshika Jain

Anam Padha

Counterpoint Research
press(at)counterpointresearch.com

Top

Insights Tag： India TWS Shipment