Wearables Archives - Page 5 of 10

CES 2023: Smartwatches Expand Health Features and Target Kids and Seniors

Citizen, Fossil, eBuyNow, and iTouch all announced new smartwatches at CES, with health and wellness taking center stage
Kids and senior smartwatch market to grow as Xplora enters the US market
Companies continue to wait for new sensors to monitor blood sugar and blood pressure

At the beginning of this month, companies from around the world gathered in Las Vegas to unveil their most exciting pieces of technology at CES 2023. Everything from laptops to cars to VR glasses was on display and our analysts were at the event tracking the latest and greatest launches from tech companies. One area that we paid particular attention to was smartwatches, which saw several big announcements at the event.

Xplora plans entry into US smartwatch market, announces plans for a senior watch

Xplora is already popular throughout Europe, offering a lineup of differentiated kids watches that appeal to children in the 4-11 age group. The company is hoping that its strong performance in Europe can be replicated in the US when it launches in retail channels there later this year. In the US, most brands currently only offer one kids watch, if any at all. Xplora offers the X6Play, which won a Best of Innovation Award at CES, which is more powerful and has more advanced features, and the XGO3, which is less powerful and less expensive. Xplora is likely to benefit from having more advanced devices for kids at the top of its target age range and simple devices for kids at the bottom of the range. Additionally, service plan prices start at only $9.99/month, a full $5/month cheaper than Verizon or T-Mobile when pre-paying for a year of service, which will appeal to price-savvy consumers. Xplora also announced during CES that it was releasing a watch targeted at seniors. While the US does have some senior watch models available, this market remains immature and underpenetrated. Xplora’s expertise in kids watches should help give it a leg-up on the competition and a head start in addressing this underserved market.

Citizen announces two new smartwatches, moves beyond health and wellness tracking

Japanese heritage watch maker Citizen announced two new smartwatches to replace its current lineup. The Citizen CZ Smart Casual and CZ Smart Sport both feature sleek displays and a wide array of changeable bands, but the true innovation comes in the form of new health and wellness features. While most smartwatches today feature things like sleep tracking, heart rate tracking and even blood oxygen content, the CZ Smart Casual and Smart Sport go beyond health and wellness tracking to health and wellness prediction and intervention. The CZ Smart YouQ App uses tests adapted from NASA’s research to create a profile of user awareness and focus throughout the day. Users can use these profiles to glean insights into moments of peak performance and plan their day accordingly. After the first week, the app can also make recommendations to improve focus and awareness during points in the day when the user is predicted to see a drop.

Fossil announces new hybrid smartwatch

Fossil announced a new smartwatch at CES, the Fossil Gen 6 Hybrid Wellness Edition. The major feature of this watch is its E Ink display that shows health and wellness data such as heart rate, blood oxygen content and steps all behind two mechanical arms for analog time-keeping. The E Ink display helps keep power consumption low, with the device’s battery life advertised at two weeks. This is Fossil’s second hybrid smartwatch, and the first to include such in-depth health and wellness features, a clear indication of how health and wellness have become the driving use for smartwatches.

eBuyNow announces four new smartwatches under Motorola name

eBuyNow, the company behind the original Moto Watch, announced at CES that it would launch four new smartwatches under the Motorola name in the coming year. The company focused heavily on the Moto Watch 100, which while not specifically for seniors, is marketed as being the cheapest smartwatch on the market that features fall detection, a key feature for senior watches. In addition to the Moto Watch 100, eBuyNow announced the Moto Watch 70, Moto Watch 150 and Moto Watch 200, all of which are priced below $200.

iTouch announces new smartwatch and fitness tracker in partnership with fitness icon Jillian Michaels

iTouch announced that it would be launching its new iTouch Air 4 in partnership with fitness icon Jillian Michaels. The company says the Air 4 features improvements in the accuracy of its fitness tracking while aiming to help users improve their health and well-being without breaking the bank. The devices are expected to launch in the spring of this year through iTouch’s website as well as retail channels in the US. The device will likely cost users around $100.

There are a few things that the smartwatch announcements at CES can tell us about the direction that the smartwatch market is heading in. First, it is clear that health and wellness are the primary use case of smartwatches in 2023. Brands are expanding their health and wellness offerings to devices that did not previously offer them, improving their health tracking features, and even moving beyond health tracking to predictions and suggestions. Second, smartwatches targeting kids and seniors are expanding to the open market. T-Mobile and Verizon have both offered kids and senior watches in the past, but eBuyNow (Motorola) and Xplora are adding competition in open channels. Xplora is especially well-placed to disrupt these underpenetrated markets with its aggressive service prices and the know-how it brings from its success in European markets. Lastly, breakthroughs still are yet to be made in blood sugar tracking and blood pressure monitoring. But these are certainly targets for many OEMs down the line. Both features would significantly improve the usefulness of smartwatches and improve demand.

‘Made in India’ TV Shipments Grow 33% QoQ in Q3 2022; TWS Leads Electronic Wearables Segment Local Manufacturing

Dixon led the Made in India TV shipments, followed by Radiant.
Bharat FIH led the Made in India TWS shipments, followed by Padget.
Optiemus led the Made in India smartwatch shipments.
Samsung, Dixon and Wingtech were the top three tablet manufacturers.

New Delhi, Hong Kong, Seoul, London, Beijing, San Diego, Buenos Aires – January 10, 2023

‘Made in India’ TV shipments grew 33% QoQ in Q3 2022 (July-September) to reach over 5 million units, according to the latest research from Counterpoint’s Made in India service. In the electronic wearables category, the TWS segment led in terms of local manufacturing with almost 34% of its shipments being manufactured in India.

Commenting on the local manufacturing ecosystem, Senior Research Analyst Prachir Singh said, “The TV market showed high QoQ growth due to the festive season, which drove the consumer demand, increasing the local manufacturing shipments as well. The top five manufacturers contributed to more than 55% of the locally manufactured TV shipments in Q3 2022. Local manufacturing continues to stay robust for segments like smartwatches, TWS, tablets and neckbands also. The local manufacturing share in the TWS segment increased to 34% in Q3 2022 from 16% in the previous quarter. Bharat FIH, Padget, Avishkaran and Optiemus were the top four brands and cumulatively contributed to almost 90% of the locally manufactured TWS shipments. In the tablets category, Samsung, Dixon and Wingtech contributed to more than 90% of the locally manufactured shipments. However, in the smartwatch category, Optiemus dominated the local manufacturing and contributed to more than 90% of the shipments.”

Source: Counterpoint Made in India Research, Q3 2022

On the Indian government’s focus, Senior Research Analyst Anshika Jain said, “Under the Made in India theme, local manufacturing aims to even go beyond smartphones to cover segments like audio products, wearables and EVs. More and more efforts are being made to make the country a significant player in the global value chain. These efforts now also include semiconductor manufacturing. Many states like Gujarat have even come out with their own semiconductor policies and are bringing about associated reforms and policy changes (like labour and land reforms in Karnataka) to harness India’s potential in this space.”

The government’s vision to increase local manufacturing as well as design capabilities in India will impact the local value addition in the wearables segment. We may see many companies increasing their capacities, with the new entrants also opting for local manufacturing.

Notes:

Dixon Technologies’ share does not include Padget Electronics.
Avishkaran Enterprises manufactures for Mivi.

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

Prachir Singh

Priya Joseph

Tarun Pathak

Follow Counterpoint Research

Outsourced TWS Production Shipments up 16% YoY in H1 2022; Account for 87% of Global TWS Shipments

Outsourced production accounted for 87% of global TWS shipments in H1 2022.
Luxshare and Goertek retained their first and second ranks, respectively, among TWS manufacturers. They jointly accounted global outsourced TWS production shipments in H1 2022.

Beijing, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul, London, San Diego, Buenos Aires

TWS shipments from outsourced manufacturing companies increased 16% YoY in H1 2022, according to Counterpoint Research’s Global TWS Hearables Manufacturing Tracker and Report, H1 2022. Meanwhile, total global TWS shipments grew 9.4% YoY in H1 2022. The share of TWS shipments from outsourced production (ODM/EMS) increased to 87% of total global TWS shipments in H1 2022 from 83% in 2021.

H1 2022 and 2021 Global TWS Manufacturing Operations

Source: Counterpoint Research’s Global TWS Hearables Manufacturing Tracker, H1 2022

Commenting on the TWS market, Senior Research Analyst Shenghao Bai said, “Despite economic headwinds in H1 2022, the global TWS market continued to grow, especially in emerging markets. ODMs/EMSs stand to benefit from this growth trend because several key TWS brands rely on outsourced manufacturing.”

Senior Research Analyst Ivan Lam added, “Affordable TWS models were welcomed in H1 2022 as consumers tightened their purse strings in anticipation of a lurking recession. Brands such as boAt, Xiaomi and Skullcandy absorbed the demand for affordable TWS, mainly in Asia and Europe. The TWS production of these brands is completely outsourced. ODMs that mainly produce low-to-mid-end models registered more orders in H1 2022.”

Luxshare and Goertek remained the top-ranking ODMs/EMSs in the competitive global TWS landscape in H1 2022. The two companies jointly accounted for 33% of the global outsourced TWS manufacturing in H1 2022, down from 35% in H1 2021.

Ranking, Growth of Global TWS ODM/EMS Vendors

Source: Counterpoint Research’s Global TWS Hearables Manufacturing Tracker, H1 2022

Commenting on the leading ODMs’ performances, Shenghao said, “Luxshare and Goertek both had higher shipments in H1 2022 due to the popularity of the Apple AirPods 3 and AirPods Pro. Luxshare will also benefit from Apple’s recently launched AirPods Pro 2. Among Tier-2 companies, Huaqin increased its cooperation with realme based on its partnership with Huawei, which boosted its TWS shipments in H1 2022. Huaqin will also continue to expand its cooperation with OPPO Group and HONOR to grow its TWS business. In H1 2022, Horn’s shipments increased due to strong orders from Skullcandy while Zhengrong’s growth was driven by Xiaomi’s new models.”

Diversification of manufacturing in the global electronics industry has continued. ODMs such as Cosonic, AAC and Zhengrong have been expanding their operations to Southeast Asia or India. These companies are also diversifiying their portfolios into other smart devices such as smartwatches, smart speakers and smart home devices.

Commenting on these trends, Ivan said, “To benefit from the growth of TWS in emerging markets, some Chinese ODMs are investing in more manufacturing sites overseas. Establishing local factories can help companies build connections with local clients more easily and capitalize on lower labor costs. Also, portfolio diversification can help ODMs stay ahead of competition and lower exposure to risks. We expect an acceleration in the expansion to regions outside China after COVID-19 restrictions are eased. However, one should be wary of limiting factors such as sub-optimal supply chain ecosystems and local policy risks.”

Counterpoint Research’s market-leading Global TWS Hearables Manufacturing Tracker and Report service is available for subscribing clients.

Feel free to contact us at press@counterpointresearch.com for questions regarding our in-depth research and insights.

You can also visit our Data Section (updated quarterly) to view the TWS market share for World, USA, China and India.

Analyst Contact

Shenghao Bai
shenghao.bai@counterpointresearch.com

Ivan Lam
ivan.lam@counterpointresearch.com

Counterpoint Research
press@counterpointresearch.com

TWS Biggies Focus on Differentiation to Beat Competition

The global TWS market recorded shipments of about 300 million units in 2021. This figure is expected to continuously increase till 2025.
Sales in the <$100 segment have increased steadily with the firm growth of emerging local companies such as Skullcandy in the US and boAt in India.
On the other hand, sales in the >$150 segment, which can be described as premium product sales, have stagnated.
Leading TWS brands like Apple, Samsung, Sony, Sennheiser and B&O, which mainly focus on the >$150 segment, are trying to expand market share by differentiating their products.

Global TWS Market Shipments (Forecast)

Source: Counterpoint TWS Hearables Market Tracker

TWS Market Share by Price Band

Source: Counterpoint TWS Hearables Market Tracker

Sales in the sub-$100 segment have increased steadily with the firm growth of emerging local companies such as Skullcandy in the US and boAt in India. On the other hand, sales in the >$150 segment, which can be described as premium product sales, have stagnated. Leading TWS brands like Apple, Samsung, Sony, Sennheiser and B&O, which mainly focus on the >$150 segment, are trying to expand their market share by differentiating products from the low-to-mid-priced ones. Currently, they are strengthening existing functions in such products or adopting new ones.

Samsung and Apple are differentiating their products with enhanced ANC, where users can enjoy the music with reduced fatigue and increased immersion. Samsung has showcased its new Intelligent ANC (IANC) with the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. Unlike the existing ANC, it can effectively remove external noise by analyzing surrounding sound. Apple is equipped with “adaptive transparency” to minimize the intensity of loud noises with its computational algorithms. The two companies did not increase the size of the earbuds while increasing play time. The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro reduced its weight, but it effectively removed external noise with the enhanced ANC function.

Sony introduced a new concept with its LinkBuds, which were released earlier this year. LinkBuds are ring-type driver units that reduce greatly the weight of the product and the fatigue associated with it, making them suitable for daily use. Moreover, users can talk to others without removing the earbuds by using “speak-to-chat”. As music play stops automatically when a conversation is detected, users do not need to press the stop button to talk to others, justifying LinkBuds’ catchphrase “Keep every world on”.

With the TWS market competition intensifying, leading companies are enhancing existing functions or introducing new functions to differentiate their products. In this trend, battery performance is also becoming more important. The battery size should be reduced to accommodate more sensors. At the same time, the battery power needs to be strengthened to implement various functions and maintain play time. It is this conflict that will make the energy density of a TWS more important. It will eventually lead to increased interest in small-size batteries in the TWS market.

Releated Posts

India Becomes Biggest Smartwatch Market in Q3 2022

Driven by the basic smartwatch segment, the global smartwatch market grew 30% YoY.
India grew 167% YoY, taking the top spot for the first time thanks to the growth of local brands.
Apple grew 48% YoY thanks to strong sales of its newly released Apple Watch 8 series.
Noise grew 218% YoY to regain the top spot in the Indian market.

London, Seoul, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Beijing, San Diego, Buenos Aires – November 29, 2022

Despite inflation and geopolitical crises that have continued since the beginning of this year, the global smartwatch market shipments increased 30% YoY in Q3 2022, according to Counterpoint Research’s latest Global Smartwatch Model Tracker. During the quarter, India’s market grew 167% YoY to become the biggest smartwatch market in the world. Other markets also grew YoY, except China and Europe.

Research Analyst Woojin Son said, “Among the types of smartwatches*, the basic smartwatch, with relatively lighter versions of operating systems (OSs) and more affordable prices, has been the key driver in sharply boosting the global market recently. While HLOS smartwatch shipments grew 23% YoY in Q3 2022, basic smartwatch shipments more than doubled YoY, accounting for 35% of the total market. This remarkable increase in basic smartwatch shipments shows us that the market base is rapidly expanding toward more accessible segments amid aggressive drives by the supply side. But still, in terms of revenue, the HLOS smartwatch overwhelms the basic smartwatch with a market size of almost 10 times due to its high average selling price (ASP).”

Global Top-selling Smartwatch Brands’ Shipment Share by Device Type, Q3 2022

Source: Counterpoint Global Smartwatch Model Shipment & Revenue Tracker, Q3 2022

Market analysis

Apple grew 48% YoY thanks to strong sales of its newly released Apple Watch 8 series. Released in early September, the new series accounted for about 56% of the overall shipments. Apple accounted for about half of the market among HLOS smartwatches in Q3 2022. However, this was a slight decrease from the 54% share in Q2 2022 due to the slump in North America and Europe, which are major markets.
Samsung increased its shipments by 62% QoQ with launching new Galaxy Watch 5 series, while its market share of the HLOS segment increased by 5% points QoQ. However, Samsung’s shipments only grew 6% YoY as it lost ground in India, falling below 3% share there. In the global market, Samsung was still in second place but with a decreased market share (down by 2.6% points YoY), narrowing the gap with the third-placed Noise.
Noise grew 218% YoY to regain the top spot in the Indian market. It ranked third in the global market, followed by Apple and Samsung. In the case of the basic smartwatch market, Noise ranked first in India, but the gap with Fire-Boltt was less than 1% due to fierce competition in that market.
Fire-Boltt showed a flat market share compared to the previous quarter but fell behind Noise to retreat to second place in India. But thanks to the Indian market’s rapid growth, Fire-Boltt was able to maintain its fourth place in the global market. Fire-Boltt is active mostly in the Indian market, so the growth of the brand shows how much impact the Indian market had this quarter.
Although Huawei grew 65% YoY, it recorded zero shipments in India for the first time since 2018. It ranked fifth in the global market, the same as the previous year.
Like Fire-Boltt and Noise, the sixth-placed boAt targets the entry-level smartwatch market. boAt crossed the 2-million mark in shipments during the quarter.
Garmin’s shipments were flat from the previous year. But in terms of revenue, the brand grew 11%. This is because its ASP of about $365 was even higher than Apple’s ASP.

Smartwatch Shipment Share by Region, Q3 2022 vs Q3 2021

Smartwatch Shipment Share by Region, Q3 2022 vs Q3 2021

Source: Counterpoint Global Smartwatch Model Tracker, Q3 2022

In terms of regions, India occupied the top position for the first time. Senior Analyst Anshika Jain said, “India’s smartwatch market grew 167% YoY in Q3 2022 to become the biggest market in the world. The main factor behind the record quarter was India’s festive season. Indian brands expanding their product portfolios at affordable price points and emphasis on local manufacturing also contributed to the growth. Bluetooth-calling emerged as an important feature, contributing a 58% share in total shipments, the highest ever share to date. Consumers are also preferring bigger display sizes, which is evident from the fact that over half of the total shipments in Q3 came from the 1.5”-1.69” display size.”

In the case of North America, which remained the largest market from Q4 2020 to Q2 2022, the shipments increased 21% YoY. But India grew so much that it was pushed to second place globally.

Due to the continued “zero-COVID” policy and the subsequent economic downturn, China fell 6% YoY. Its market size decreased for the fourth consecutive quarter.

*Smartwatch type definition

HLOS Smartwatch: Electronic watch running a high-level OS, such as Watch OS (Apple) or Wear OS (Samsung), with the ability to install third-party apps.
Basic Smartwatch: Electronic watch running a lighter version of an OS, with the inability to install third-party apps.

Background

Analyst Contacts

Sujeong Lim

Neil Shah

Follow Counterpoint Research

press@counterpointresearch.com

Technology Trends Driving Future XR Market Growth

In 2021, XR shipments crossed the 10-million mark for the first time, showing 60% growth compared to the previous year. Although the growth has slowed down this year due to the lack of a new mass-level device, it is expected to accelerate next year and take the annual shipments to about 48 million in 2025. Recently, Meta unveiled its new product, the Quest Pro. Unlike the previous device, which only allows hand tracking, the Quest Pro features eye and face tracking. Through Quest Pro, Meta is trying to consolidate its leadership position in the consumer sector and expand its market share in the enterprise sector.

However, the competition is expected to intensify with the expected release of Sony’s PlayStation VR 2 and Apple’s first XR headset next year. As major OEMs enter the market in earnest, attention is being paid to what specifications they will release. This blog looks into some of the key technologies that will form the XR market’s focus going forward.

1. Wider FOV for immersion enlargement

Field of view (FOV) is the range of viewing. It is one of the most important features of XR devices. In theory, the wider the FOV, the better. But the screen size is limited. So, if the FOV is increased without taking into account the screen size, the screen will look crumpled.

Ideal displays for XR devices should have a FOV larger than 160° to cover the FOV of the human visual system. In addition, monocular focus cues are needed to recognize the interaction between virtual content and real-world environments, just as the human eye recognizes objects with central and peripheral vision.

However, the average FOV is about 89° for existing XR devices, 47° for AR, and 112° for XR. This is because the FOV was reduced to provide a clearer image at a limited resolution.

Source: Radiant Vision Systems

2. ToF technology for gesture tracking

AR devices will need to come with a variety and combination of control options to be truly hands-free. These will range from gesture control and eye tracking to voice control.

Gesture control can be done through the application of multiple 3D sensing modules to detect hand movements and nearby objects via spatial detection. Among the 3D sensing modules, ToF (time of flight) technology is expected to be mainly used. The ToF technology consists of iToF (indirect time-of-flight) and dToF (direct time-of-flight). iToF is advantageous for short-range measurements and has excellent security, so it is used for smartphone facial recognition. On the other hand, dToF-based solutions support a wider measurement distance than iToF. Therefore, both solutions are expected to be adopted for XR devices.

Source: SK Hynix

3. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI is essential for understanding the surrounding environment and human beings to provide an optimized experience for each user. When AI and AR are combined, it becomes possible to receive optimized information for each user. Furthermore, if AI technology for detecting and recognizing a user’s emotions is applied to an XR device, facial and gesture recognition limitations can be supplemented. In other words, it collects objective emotional information such as a person’s face, voice, body movement, and bio-signals with sensors, and obtains abstract emotional information based on AI to automatically recognize people and provide a real-time personalized environment even if they do not express their emotions under a given environmental condition. This will facilitate communication with users in a virtual space and enrich the XR usage environment by being used in various ways, such as evaluating and improving products and services, and identifying and responding to safety-related conditions.

Just as rapid technology innovation led to smartphone market growth in its early stages, XR devices are expected to show similar trends. Therefore, technological development is also an important factor in market growth. Even as major smartphone OEMs such as Apple and Samsung apply for related patents, OEMs that have the upper hand in technology competition are expected to survive in the market.

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

Analyst Contacts:

Anshika Jain

Liz Lee

Counterpoint Research
press(at)counterpointresearch.com

AjnaLens: India-based XR Startup Upskilling Workforce Training with VR & Metaverse

The India-based startup, AjnaLens, is one of the Indian players in the XR (Extended Reality) space joining the Metaverse revolution. Founded in 2014, the co-founders have IIT and engineering backgrounds. Designing and manufacturing in India, AjnaLens offers AR (Augmented Reality), VR (Virtual Reality), and Mixed Reality solutions with applications across different sectors from skill training to enterprise and even the Indian defense sector.

We recently got to spend some time at the AjnaLens office in Mumbai to talk with the co-founders, understand the product offerings, and experience the solutions in action.

The company’s mission & services

The key mission of AjnaLens is to focus on upskilling the workforce and bridging the digital divide. The company has joined hands with Tata Technologies to upgrade 150 ITIs (Industrial Training Institutes) in Karnataka, India; to upskill over 9000 students using a VR-based simulator.

AjnaLens also leverages technologies such as artificial intelligence and mixed reality to upgrade defense weapon systems and tanks to help increase the effectiveness of combat missions. The mixed reality glasses can be mounted on soldiers’ helmets, enabling them to efficiently carry out surveillance and security.

Credit – AjnaLens

Though the defense was just a byproduct, it is now most of their business. This military-grade Mixed Reality helmet also includes features like GPS for navigation, night vision, LIDAR, Sonar, and thermal scanners.

There are three core product applications:
• AR-glasses for enterprise
• Mixed Reality glasses for the military
• XR Station for VR training purposes

AjnaLens also has its own app marketplace where it can customize apps based on specific client needs. The marketplace also allows third-party app developers to submit and publish their apps. Using Android OS as a base, AjnaLens has filed for over 15 national & international patents in augmented reality, and its algorithms are its secret sauce for powering and integrating the entire system.

The upskilling challenge for industries

One of the biggest challenges facing industries is training the workforce with new skills and capabilities. The post-COVID-19 hybrid and remote working is making training even more challenging. But with VR and metaverse, these challenges can be more easily overcome.

In VR training, like that offered by AjnaLens, workers are instantly teleported to the job site (or workshop). It is one of the most effective ways to develop new skills and train the workforce. Scientific research has proven that VR training is more completely and readily absorbed by the brain than traditional classroom-type training.

VR training can offer several benefits, but the two important aspects are that it offers realistic simulations and the ability to teach even hard skills. And what better example than a flight simulator where challenging emergency scenarios can be recreated for pilot training?

WATCH: AjnaLens VR Training – Teleporting Trainees to Job Site

AjnaLens VR for training institutes: Immersive & interactive way of learning

The AjnaLens team offered us a demo of its VR solution for training institutes, and we were left impressed.
The VR headset, AjnaLite 2, is tethered to a dedicated VR workstation called Ajna XR Station, and the software is scalable across different use cases; institutes just need to load the training modules.
Currently, it supports a variety of jobs such as welding, painting, fire, and safety training.
With this 360-degree immersive environment, students or workers can learn skills like painting for automobiles and aviation.
Upon completing the tasks, students get instant grades and they can practice for an unlimited time until they perfect the processes.
As there is no need to have actual paint and car doors to learn painting, it allows organizations to greatly reduce overall training costs.
For those who wear specs, the VR glasses have an adjustable dial to adjust the lens power.
The display is bright, and crisp and did not cause any eye-fatigue issues during our limited usage.
The VR glasses and equipment like a spray gun and the welding gun have trackers to track your movement.

We were impressed with the painting job demo, and the precision of details with the angle of spray and distance.

AjnaLens AR glasses for enterprise

AjnaLens also has tethered AR glasses and ambient-aware (see-through) type features.
These are lightweight glasses that have a 2K display, speaker, and camera.
It has a 50-degree field of view and can be used to create a virtual space from the connected device.
These glasses are powered by tethering to a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC or above-powered smartphone, or a laptop or tablet using a Type-C cable.
There is no processing on the glasses, it only has MCUs for the camera, tracking, sensors, and audio.
This virtual space can have holograms and avatars, digital twins, web browsers, CAD designs, and Office apps.
Users can also take virtual team calls over platforms like Microsoft Teams or Zoom.
We did give it a try and it was quite comfortable to wear.
The display was bright enough, and color reproduction was good too.

Overall, we were left impressed with the demos we saw at AjnaLens’ office, and with this hybrid work culture and remote assistance use cases, there is room to grow and expand beyond India. AjnaLens is one of the companies in the XR space to watch out for.

Low-end Models Drive Rebound of Global TWS Shipments in Q2 2022

Under $50 low-end models led market growth. Low-end models absorbed the replacement cycle with decent quality.
The $100 and above segment’s share decreased noticeably with the weakened buying power due to recession fears, especially in Europe.

Although inflation has reduced the overall demand for tech gadgets, global TWS hearables shipments managed to grow 13% QoQ and 15% YoY in Q2 2022 driven by low-end models in the under-$50 segment, according to the latest data from Counterpoint’s TWS Hearables Market Tracker. Thanks to their low price, entry-level models were not impacted by inflation fears. Emerging markets like India, MEA and Latin America grew QoQ driven by low-end models, while China continues to suffer from a weak economic climate and its Zero-Covid policy. The overall growth of the global TWS market in Q2 2022 was sluggish, especially in YoY terms, due to COVID-19 and weak macroeconomic indicators.

Global TWS Market Shipments, Q1 2020-Q2 2022

Source: Counterpoint Research

With the fear of a lurking recession, affordable TWS models were welcomed by consumers. This meant a big opportunity for low-to-mid-priced brands like Xiaomi, QCY and Skullcandy. As demand for new TWS models still exists in emerging markets, led to growth for the sub-$100 segment in Q2 2022. Xiaomi, in particular, benefited greatly from its broad portfolio focused on entry-level and led the sub-$100 segment. The brand was also able to better absorb the device replacement cycle.

On the other hand, the $100 and above segment contracted noticeably with the decreased buying power due to recession fears, especially in Europe. As the Russia-Ukraine war prolonged, demand for new tech devices decreased. Unit sales of major brands, especially Apple and Samsung, decreased compared to the previous quarter due to a weak economic climate and demand for new Pro models, to be released in H2 2022.

Global TWS Market Share by Brand, Q2 2022

Source: Counterpoint Research

Apple is expected to rebound in H2 2022. As the upcoming Airpods Pro 2 remain as the only alternative model for ANC-enabled Airpods, the former could absorb the demand of its past iteration which was released in 2019.

Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 2 Pro is also expected to receive favorable reviews with its high sound quality and outstanding ANC. Its increased price would pose a big hurdle for the new Galaxy Buds Pro model but is still about $20 cheaper than the AirPods Pro model. If Samsung succeeds in showing decent sales with the increased price, it could prove to be a milestone for its premium brand image in the TWS market.