New Delhi, (Asian independent) India’s true wireless stereo (TWS) market soared 723 per cent (on-year) in the third quarter of this year as work-from-home and study-from-home due to the pandemic increased demand, according to a Counterpoint Research report on Wednesday.
It is one of the few segments which managed to defy the impact of economic slowdown, reaching its highest ever growth in shipments for a single quarter, said the report.
In Q3, boAt emerged as the leading brand with 18 per cent market share while Xiaomi managed to maintain its second spot with 16 per cent share, according to the research from Counterpoint’s IoT service.
“Inventory build-up prior to the festive season, along with a good number of new launches and entry of new players like OnePlus, vivo and Infinix, drove this substantial TWS growth,” Research Associate Anam Padha said in a statement.
The research showed that Realme dropped to the third spot in the India TWS market with 12 per cent market share. This was most likely because of no new launches during Q3 and the entry of new players presenting customers with good alternatives.
JBL grabbed the fourth position with 8 per cent share in Q3, compared to 15 per cent in Q2.
The brand witnessed a drop in its share due to increasing competition and more consumers preferring value offerings due to economic slowdown, Counterpoint said.
Apple, which had scooped out the biggest market share in 2019, managed to restore its spot in the top 5 brands list during this quarter, increasing its share to 6 per cent.
“Most of the smartphone OEMs now have entered the CIOT segment and are expanding their TWS portfolios across price tiers to benefit from the huge potential it holds.
“Increase in ‘stay at home’ activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic have also boosted the demand for TWS. The smartphone OEMs have managed to carve a significant place for themselves in the segment by leveraging their already established brand awareness and sales channels,” said Research Analyst Shilpi Jain.
“India TWS ASP (average selling price) increased for the first time since 2019, largely due to the increase in Apple AirPods shipments and new launches in higher price tiers. Apple’s decision to not include wired EarPods with its new iPhone 12 series evidently helped it to increase the demand for AirPods,” Jain added.
