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Indian wearable brands, such as Boat, Noise, and Fire-Boltt, have gained prominence in the global market, and since these brands are manufacturing the majority of their products in India, it is hurting the businesses of Chinese factories as they suffer from reduced orders.
The wearable manufacturing in India seems to be hurting the businesses in China as many of its factories reportedly facing sharply reduced order books. Indian brands have found top spots on the global leaderboard and since they are making most of their products in the country through local electronic contract manufacturers, most Chinese factories that had been supplying to India are now reportedly sitting empty.
The country’s wearable market is dominated by homegrown brands, such as Boat, Noise, and Fire-Boltt. According to IDC, these brands captured almost 75 per cent of the market share by volume. Boat CEO Sameer Mehta told ET that almost 95 per cent of their smartwatches and around 75 per cent of their audio products are being made in India.
He mentioned that the capacities of the Chinese factories they worked with had decreased by 50 per cent since they had redirected that capacity to India. Mehta further said that due to India’s significant consumption of wearables over the past year and a half, the decision to prioritise local manufacturing in India has resulted in several factories in China operating at lower capacities and some even closing down.
Similarly, Noida-based Gizmore’s CEO Sanjay Salirona told the publication that because the assembly of wearables has shifted from China to India, many factories in China that used to assemble wireless earbuds, neck bands, and smartwatches are now without any orders.
Salirona added that previously Gizmore used to import fully assembled units, but due to the government’s imposition of duties on wearables, they started importing them in partially assembled format, which is then assembled in India. As a result, most of the factories in China that used to supply to India are now vacant and not producing anything.
According to Counterpoint Research, India overtook China to become the second-largest smartwatch market last year with Indian brands, such as Fire-Boltt and Noise taking top spots in global market share. In Q1 2023, India also surpassed China in the overall wearables segment as domestic shipments of wearables jumped 81 per cent year-on-year to 25 million units, as per IDC. The market research firm credits this achievement to the “breadth of low-cost yet feature-rich devices from local vendors”.
Beijing’s shipments reportedly fell four per cent to 24.7 million, while IDC expects India to ship 131 million units in 2023. To recap, India shipped 100 million units in 2022. Last year, 40 per cent of the wearables sold were locally manufactured in the country, but this figure has skyrocketed to 65 per cent and is expected to rise to 80 per cent by the end of 2023. Both the IDC and Counterpoint Research have bumped up their forecast for India’s wearable device shipments in 2024 and the reasons include a boost in local manufacturing.
The Indian government’s Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP) is being given credit for this boost in local manufacturing. However, Indian brands still rely heavily on China for components and as companies look towards bringing more premium features, the percentage of locally manufactured devices could go down. Boat’s Mehta told ET that there are certain technologies, such as LTE watches and active noise cancellation earphones, which they are unable to manufacture in India. As a result, these technologies are still being imported from China.
IDC India‘s lead analyst for wearables research Vikas Sharma also shared a similar outlook. He said that the Indian government’s PMP reduced reliance on China for wearable devices but the country is still heavily dependent on importing components.
Numerous Indian wearable brands continue to rely on integrated design houses (IDH) based in China for various aspects such as new product introductions, design, and engineering verification tests. According to Kalirona from Gizmore, they collaborate with IDHs specifically on software development, incorporating India-specific modifications and enhancements. Sometimes, the IDHs themselves align the components, while in other cases, the components are imported from different factories in China, he added.
According to industry executives that spoke to ET, even these steps are steadily being shifted to India. It was reported earlier that Indian electronics contract manufacturers of wearables have been ramping up printed circuit board capabilities in India to increase the domestic value addition in the country.
The wearable manufacturing in India seems to be hurting the businesses in China as many of its factories reportedly facing sharply reduced order books. Indian brands have found top spots on the global leaderboard and since they are making most of their products in the country through local electronic contract manufacturers, most Chinese factories that had been supplying to India are now reportedly sitting empty.
The country’s wearable market is dominated by homegrown brands, such as Boat, Noise, and Fire-Boltt. According to IDC, these brands captured almost 75 per cent of the market share by volume. Boat CEO Sameer Mehta told ET that almost 95 per cent of their smartwatches and around 75 per cent of their audio products are being made in India.
He mentioned that the capacities of the Chinese factories they worked with had decreased by 50 per cent since they had redirected that capacity to India. Mehta further said that due to India’s significant consumption of wearables over the past year and a half, the decision to prioritise local manufacturing in India has resulted in several factories in China operating at lower capacities and some even closing down.
Similarly, Noida-based Gizmore’s CEO Sanjay Salirona told the publication that because the assembly of wearables has shifted from China to India, many factories in China that used to assemble wireless earbuds, neck bands, and smartwatches are now without any orders.
Salirona added that previously Gizmore used to import fully assembled units, but due to the government’s imposition of duties on wearables, they started importing them in partially assembled format, which is then assembled in India. As a result, most of the factories in China that used to supply to India are now vacant and not producing anything.
According to Counterpoint Research, India overtook China to become the second-largest smartwatch market last year with Indian brands, such as Fire-Boltt and Noise taking top spots in global market share. In Q1 2023, India also surpassed China in the overall wearables segment as domestic shipments of wearables jumped 81 per cent year-on-year to 25 million units, as per IDC. The market research firm credits this achievement to the “breadth of low-cost yet feature-rich devices from local vendors”.
Beijing’s shipments reportedly fell four per cent to 24.7 million, while IDC expects India to ship 131 million units in 2023. To recap, India shipped 100 million units in 2022. Last year, 40 per cent of the wearables sold were locally manufactured in the country, but this figure has skyrocketed to 65 per cent and is expected to rise to 80 per cent by the end of 2023. Both the IDC and Counterpoint Research have bumped up their forecast for India’s wearable device shipments in 2024 and the reasons include a boost in local manufacturing.
The Indian government’s Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP) is being given credit for this boost in local manufacturing. However, Indian brands still rely heavily on China for components and as companies look towards bringing more premium features, the percentage of locally manufactured devices could go down. Boat’s Mehta told ET that there are certain technologies, such as LTE watches and active noise cancellation earphones, which they are unable to manufacture in India. As a result, these technologies are still being imported from China.
IDC India‘s lead analyst for wearables research Vikas Sharma also shared a similar outlook. He said that the Indian government’s PMP reduced reliance on China for wearable devices but the country is still heavily dependent on importing components.
Numerous Indian wearable brands continue to rely on integrated design houses (IDH) based in China for various aspects such as new product introductions, design, and engineering verification tests. According to Kalirona from Gizmore, they collaborate with IDHs specifically on software development, incorporating India-specific modifications and enhancements. Sometimes, the IDHs themselves align the components, while in other cases, the components are imported from different factories in China, he added.
According to industry executives that spoke to ET, even these steps are steadily being shifted to India. It was reported earlier that Indian electronics contract manufacturers of wearables have been ramping up printed circuit board capabilities in India to increase the domestic value addition in the country.
