Wearables Archives - Page 7 of 10

Sony WF-1000XM4 Review: Great ANC TWS Earbuds With Stellar Audio

The TWS hearables are one of the fast-growing segments in consumer electronics seeing a 24% YoY growth in 2021. OEMs removing wired headphones from smartphone packaging, and the work-and-learn from home scenario post-pandemic are some of the factors contributing to this growth. The wireless earbuds also have a higher attach rate than other accessories such as smartwatches. In 2022, we expect the trend to continue and the TWS earbuds market is expected to grow by another 24% YoY.

The personalized content consumption from music listening to podcasts, video streaming, and gaming has increased during the pandemic. Even video conferencing needs to connect & communicate with clients, colleagues’ school, and family has grown significantly. And these trends have catalyzed the need for reliable earbuds with features that include Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), great audio, mic quality, and chords free being increasingly preferred. While these features have been available in premium earbuds but with growing demand, scale and innovation are quickly trickling down to relatively lower price points. There are only a handful of OEMs those package all of the above features really well, and Sony is one of them carving out mindshare alongside Apple and Samsung.

Sony’s TWS earbuds in the 1000XM-series are very popular and have set a benchmark for features like ANC, superior audio quality, and design. Focusing on the premium market and limited distribution reach compared to Apple or Samsung, the Japanese manufacturer was still able to capture a 3% volume share globally in 2021. However, Sony is also expanding its TWS line-up and premium features for models in the mainstream $100-$200 segment which should help it gain more share in 2022.

Talking about TWS growth in the high-end segment, Counterpoint Research Senior Analyst Liz Lee said, “The premium TWS earbuds segment saw robust growth in the second half of 2021 and we believe despite the recent macro-uncertainty due to the Ukraine crisis, lockdowns in China and inflationary climate, the demand for premium and mainstream TWS earbuds will continue to rise. Sony is expected to do well being the vanguard of driving key features such as ANC and audio experience in the TWS earbuds market.”

We have been using the premium Sony WF-1000XM4 true wireless earbuds for a few months now. The new XM4 version sports advanced features such as LDAC codec for higher bit-rate audio transmission, Speak-to-Chat using bone conduction sensors, ambient sound mode, and 360 Reality Audio support, vs the previous generation XM3 model. So, while the WF-1000XM3 was arguably one of the best all-round TWS, what has Sony done differently this time with the new 1000XM4 to take it to the next level?

Following is our detailed analysis of the new XM4 model right from packaging to performance after making it our daily driver for the last three months:

♻️ Plastic-free Unboxing Experience: A Move Towards Sustainable Future

Sustainability and efforts toward reducing the carbon footprint are becoming a key strategy for several tech companies and it’s good to see Sony going above and beyond.
The WF-1000XM4’s packaging does not use any plastic, and the box is made from recycled paper.
Sony also used embossed logos instead of printing the box with ink, a small effort without compromising the user experience.

WATCH: Sony WF – 1000XM4 – Unboxing & First Look

Compact Design, Comfortable Fit

Compared to the 1000XM3, the new 1000XM4 comes with a more compact design where the charging case is now 40% smaller, and the earbuds are 10% smaller.
The compact case makes it even easier to carry in the pocket, whereas the earbuds also now fit well, without popping out of the ear, like on the predecessor.
The earbuds snugly fit in the ear and are comfortable to wear for hours, provided, you don’t push them too hard in your ears to get a tight fit.
Even when working out – like doing a few jumping jacks or high stepping, the earbuds were firmly secure in the ears.
Sony has done away with silicone ear tips, and bundled foam ear tips instead.
Foam ear tips are a good addition as they offer great passive noise isolation while fitting comfortably in your ears.

Sony WF-1000XM4 Specifications and Features

Hi-Res Audio Streaming, Quick Pairing

The earbuds come with 6mm dynamic drivers that support a frequency range of 20-40,000Hz.
With Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, the earbuds support AAC, SBC, and LDAC (bit rate up to 990kbps) codecs.
The pairing process is straightforward, and if you have an Android smartphone, the Sony WF-1000XM4 also supports the Google Fast Pair feature.
Though, the multi-point connectivity feature as seen on Jabra, Apple AirPods, and Samsung Galaxy Buds series, could have been a good addition.
The earbuds are sweat-resistant and come with an IPx4 rating, so you can wear them during workouts, or even in light rains when you go on a walk or run.

Companion App and Features

Both on Android and iOS, Sony has a companion app called “Headphones” which gives you can access to some core features.
You can adjust the equalizer, ambient sound control, ANC (Active Noise Cancellation), and more.
Once you set the equalizer, the profile is created and saved on the earbuds, which is a good differentiator over competitors.
So, even if you pair the earbuds with a new smartphone or a PC on which the “Headphones” app is not installed, you can still enjoy music with the equalizer profile you set using the app on another smartphone.

🎙Speak-to-Chat for Quick Communication

Speak-to-chat is an interesting feature that uses bone conduction technology to pick vibrations from your voice to temporarily pause music and start ambient noise.
This feature comes in handy when you are listening to music and want to talk to someone, say while commuting or walking on the road and asking for direction.
The feature works like a charm, but if like me, you too like humming to the tunes while listening to music, better to keep the feature off as the bone conduction is very sensitive in picking voice, and it activates the ambient sound while pausing music.
There is also a Quick Attention feature, where you can “Tap and Hold” on the left earbud to quickly pause music and activate the ambient sound mode, and it turns off as soon as you release your finger.

Sony WF-1000XM4 Performance: More Bang for your Buck

Ambient Sound: Stay Aware of Surroundings

Activating the ambient sound mode, you can hear your surroundings more clearly, thanks to the two noise-sensing mics on each earbud.
It lets you stay connected with the surroundings while listening to music, very useful when commuting on a metro or bus.
The app even lets you adjust the strength depending on the amount of ambient noise you want to let in.

🔇Excellent ANC: Zone Out from the Noise

Sony has included a new V1 integrated processor in the earbuds which powers ANC and LDAC Bluetooth codec support.
The V1 processor takes its noise-canceling capabilities even further than the predecessor by cutting off more noise at different frequencies.
We tested the ANC capabilities on a long-haul flight while traveling to MWC 22, and locally while traveling in metro and cabs.
With ANC ‘On’ and listening to music even at 50% volume, the earbuds block out ambient noise effectively while letting you immerse in the music.
There is also a wind noise reduction feature which worked very effectively in blocking out noise when sitting on a window seat on a local train.

🔊Clean, Immersive Sound Quality

Sony has consistently delivered great personal audio devices, and the WF-1000XM4 is no different.
The earbuds are very well tuned to instantly get yourself lost in the groove.
It offers a versatile performance irrespective of the music genre you are listening to.
With most TWS, I prefer customizing the equalizer to suit my listening preferences, but with the XM4, I mostly kept the EQ off.
Though, at times when I felt like having some bass punch, I would set Clear Bass to +2, while keeping the rest of the frequencies flat.
Most of my listening is generally on iPhone with Apple Music as a source, and despite having songs in Lossless quality, the iPhones only support AAC codec.
Though audio on flagship Android smartphones sounds a little better due to support for LDAC codec.
The connectivity is stable too, as long as you are within a five-meter range.
Apple Music lossless, Tidal, or Prime Music on Android lets you take advantage of high-res audio listening, but the same is not possible with Spotify.
Mic quality on calls was good and recipients had no issues hearing me.

🔋Reliable Battery Life

On a full charge with mixed usage and ANC On, the WF-1000XM4 offered a good battery life of a little over six hours.
The charging case adds two full charges for the earbuds, so you get a total of 18-19 hours of battery life before needing the charge the case again.
The earbuds also support a quick charge feature where even five minutes of charging can offer up to 60 mins of playtime and during my testing, it worked for close to 50 mins, which is good.
The case takes about 90 minutes to fully charge with a wired Type-C fast charger.
There is also support for wireless charging, but it takes a little over three hours to fully charge.

Key Takeaways

The Sony WF-1000XM4 delivers excellent sound quality catering to audiophiles and general users.
The active noise cancellation (ANC) is among the best that we’ve tried on TWS earbuds.
Battery life even with ANC ‘On’ is not an issue with the 1000XM4, and with ANC ‘Off’, it covers you for almost the entire workday.
Additional features like saving the audio profile on the earbuds, IPx4 rating, and wireless charging, offer a value package.

Wishlist for WF-1000XM4 Successor

While the attention awareness feature using bone conduction technology is a good addition, the low sensitivity needs more refinements to not trigger aggressively.
In-ear detection could be better, currently, even if the earbuds are kept on the table, the music playback does not stop, and it continues to play.
Multi-point Bluetooth connection to quickly and automatically switch between devices will be a good addition, especially as most of us extensively use a smartphone and a laptop in our daily life.
Gaming latency could be better, as it will come in handy when playing games like BGMI or COD: Mobile on a connected smartphone.

ALSO READ: Other Strategic Reviews on Smartphones, Smartwatches, TWS & More

Metaverse Reignites XR Interest in Chinese Markets

London, San Diego, New Delhi, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Seoul, Hong Kong – April 15, 2022

XR technologies experienced their first boom in China in 2016. However, this boom fizzled out in the following two years due to the immaturity of subsequent technologies and failure to fulfill public expectations. Five years later, with the rise of the Metaverse and Meta’s (formerly Facebook) commercial success of its consumer-level VR headset Oculus, China’s XR market has received its second wind with mobile giants like Huawei, Xiaomi, and OPPO entering the fray with their own releases of smart/AR products. Counterpoint Research has released a new report on the ‘Overview of China’s XR Market‘ which analyses the advancements in XR/AI technologies and the introduction of blockchain as cornerstones of a full-fledged Metaverse. It also measures whether a certain level of maturity has been achieved to reach mass-adoption levels in China’s XR market.

Current landscape

Currently, four major forces steer China’s XR industry, ranging from XR-focused start-ups to mobile giants. Three out of the top five smartphone manufacturers in China launched their own smart/AR glasses in the second half of 2021. Consequently, the smart/AR glasses category has become the most competitive in the Chinese XR industry with its relatively low entry barriers and potential to become the next leading device in smart wearables. Lagging in core AR/VR technologies, Chinese manufacturers are trying out other means of development, namely functionalities utilizing their own technological advancements, to pursue value-added and popular features like voice control, virtual assistant, and gesture control. Chinese manufacturers are also diversifying their product lines, shifting from B2C to B2B markets by providing products for industrial and service sectors. Rokid X-Craft and Rokid Glass are typical examples of obtaining value propositions in industrial/business applications.

Overview of Leading Players in China

Company	Company Type	Market Vertical	XR Focus
Pico	VR startup acquired by ByteDance	VR	Entertainment, gaming
Nreal	XR startup (2017)	AR	Commerce, gaming, real estate
iQIYI	China’s streaming giant	Video streaming	Movie streaming, gaming
Huawei	Leading global ICT provider	Telecom, AI	Smart life
Rokid	AI startup (2014)	Robotics, AI	Industrial inspection, public security, cultural tourism
OPPO	Leading smartphone provider	Smartphone	Consumer-assisted reality

Technological landscape

According to Counterpoint’s Overview of China’s XR Market Landscape report, the market is currently moving towards a combination of Micro-LED with waveguide technology for augmented displays, setting a new standard for premium AR glasses. Xiaomi’s upcoming AR glasses have chosen such a combination. Micro-LED enables thinner display screens, lower power consumption and higher display resolutions. However, mass adoption will be less likely due to its high production costs, hence limiting its application to only premium models. Additionally, AR/smart glasses still depend on mobile phones for their computing power. However, China’s early adoption and development of 5G technology raises the prospects of AR/smart glasses becoming integrated devices independent from mobile phones.

In terms of VR headsets, leading players in China such as Pico, iQIYI, and ShadowCreator are adopting Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 SoC processors, part of the Snapdragon product line designed primarily for AR and VR devices for optimal performance, benchmarking against Meta’s Oculus Quest 2 as the standard.

Competitive landscape

Even with big players testing the waters of the Chinese XR market, the AR market remains to be cultivated to its full potential with a dominant headset yet to be seen. This, however, may change soon with Pico (acquired by ByteDance), the leader in China’s VR market, seeing success with its Neo 3 model. Multiple AR/smart glass models are expected to be launched this year (2022), including the Nreal Air, Huawei Eyewear 3, OPPO Air Glass, Rokid Vision and possibly the Xiaomi AR glasses.

OPPO Air Glass 3 With Half-frame in Silver

Source: OPPO

For more details, read our report ‘Overview of China’s XR Market Landscape’. Feel free to contact us at press@counterpointresearch.com for questions regarding our latest research and insights, and for press enquiries.

Analyst Contacts:

Counterpoint Research

Related Reports:

Infographic: 2021 | Hearables (TWS)

TWS Market Share by Brand:

The global TWS hearables market sales in 2021 grew 24% YoY to 299.6 million units. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic impact throughout the year, new products entered the market with more features, like ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) and expanded playtime, at affordable prices.
TWS market leader Apple saw a slight increase of 5% YoY in its unit sales but its market share fell to 26%. Driven by its new models, Samsung saw a robust growth of 33% YoY to maintain its share of 7%.
Among other brands, Skullcandy and boAt showed noticeable growth, as they became key players in major regions like North America, Europe and India.

TWS Market Share by Region:

All regions except North America showed YoY growth in 2021. Asia-Pacific (excluding China) had the biggest share, surpassing North America for the first time.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic impact throughout the year, most regions grew driven by new products with more features at affordable prices.
In particular, smartphone OEMs continued to focus on TWS products to expand their smart ecosystem, resulting in increased competition and sales in the market.

Read the full press release here.

Use the button below to download the high resolution PDF of the infographic:

Smartwatch Market Grows 24% YoY in 2021, Records Highest Ever Quarterly Shipments in Q4

The market grew a healthy 24% YoY, thanks to strong demand for sub-$100 smartwatches.
Samsung, Amazfit and Garmin recorded a higher growth than the market average, although Apple remained the undisputed leader.
The Indian market quadrupled YoY thanks to the notable growth of local brands such as Noise.

Seoul, Beijing, Boston, London, Toronto, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Taipei – March 14, 2022

The global smartwatch market shipments hardly grew in 2020 due to COVID-19, but they recorded a healthy 24% YoY growth in 2021, according to Counterpoint Research’s recently published Global Smartwatch Model Tracker. The fourth quarter alone saw shipments of more than 40 million units, the highest quarterly shipments ever.

Associate Director Sujeong Lim said, “The global smartwatch market’s good growth in 2021 is meaningful in itself, but it is more meaningful in that it makes us look forward to future growth. With their ability to monitor important health parameters like blood pressure, ECG and SPO2, these devices are becoming popular. Further, the attractiveness of smartwatches as independent wearable devices will increase if more of them start supporting cellular connectivity.”

Global Top 9 Smartwatch Brands Shipment Share, 2021 vs 2020

Source: Counterpoint Global Smartwatch Model Tracker

Market Summary:

Apple maintained its solid No. 1 position with a 30% market share but fell 3% points YoY due to intensified competition. However, its ASP rose 3% without the release of the SE model in 2021. As a result, Apple accounted for half of the total market revenue.
Samsung was one of the most successful smartwatch OEMs in 2021. Its QoQ growth was more than 200% in the third quarter to record the brand’s best shipments ever. This growth retained strength until the last quarter. Moving to Wear OS through a partnership with Google has worked well for the brand in many ways.
Huawei launched high-end new models and kids’ smartwatches despite continued US sanctions, but inevitably its shipments would decline YoY. Due to the Watch GT 3 and Watch Fit Mini, which were released in the fourth quarter, Huawei’s shipments more than doubled QoQ in the quarter.
imoo did not release a new model in 2021, resulting in a slight YoY decline. However, as it entered markets outside China, such as Europe, it remained the undisputed No. 1 in the kids’ smartwatch segment.
Amazfit succeeded in expanding its position in the market in 2021, recording more than 20% YoY growth over the past two years. Its ASP also rose 11% as the proportion of the GTR and GTS, the high-end models of the brand, gradually increased.
Garmin performed better than expected in 2021. Garmin had initially focused on introducing high-priced smartwatches for special categories like aviation and divers. But it is gradually shifting focus to bringing attractive consumer products from price and design perspective. As a result, it showed 35% YoY growth and took sixth place by raising its global ranking by one place.
Fitbit showed weak performance in 2021. Since the launch of the Sense and Versa 3 models in the third quarter of 2020, there has been no launch of new models, which seems to be due to strategy changes and reorganization due to the merger with Google. Therefore, it showed a YoY decrease of more than 15% in 2021. But it is expected to rebound with the release of the Versa 4 in the second half of 2022.
Xiaomi showed strong performance with its Mi Watch Lite in the first half of 2021 and released the Redmi Watch 2 series in Q4 2021. In this series, it launched the ‘Lite’ variant to broaden users’ choices and we expect it to contribute to Xiaomi’s market share gain.
Noise, the 1 local king in India’s smartwatch market, was the fastest-growing brand among the global top 9 brands. Leading the growth of the Indian smartwatch market, Noise was India’s No. 1 brand in 2021 and 2020.

Smartwatch Shipment Proportion by Region, 2021 vs 2020

Source: Counterpoint Global Smartwatch Model Tracker, Q4 2021

One of the driving forces behind the growth of the global smartwatch market in 2021 was the expansion of the Indian market. The Indian smartwatch market accounted for only 3% of the global market in 2020, but it grew four times in 2021 to raise its global market share to close to 10%.

Senior Research Analyst Anshika Jain said, “Noise is the No.1 Indian smartwatch brand and leads the growth of the local market. It captured the top position in 2021 due to its diverse product portfolio targeting the budget and mid segments, as well as strong partnerships with e-commerce players, financial institutions and celebrities. Noise also focused on community building and slightly shifted its price base towards the lower side to make its smartwatches accessible to a larger group of people, a strategy that proved to be effective. All this resulted in Noise ranking third in terms of shipments after Apple and Samsung in the APAC region except China in 2021.”

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:

Sujeong Lim

Anshika Jain

Neil Shah

Counterpoint Research
press(at)counterpointresearch.com

Global TWS Shipments Grow 24% YoY to Reach 300 Million in 2021

The $50-$100 and $200+ price bands led the market growth in 2021.
Apple maintained its first position in 2021 but with a shrinking share.

Boston, Toronto, London, New Delhi, Beijing, Taipei, Seoul – March 10, 2022

The global TWS hearables market shipments in 2021 grew 24% YoY in unit sales and 25% in terms of value, according to the latest research from Counterpoint’s TWS Hearables Market Tracker. The unit sales growth rate was slightly lower than the original forecast due to the COVID-19 pandemic impact throughout the year. However, unit sales increased to around 300 million as new products entered the market with more features, like ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) and expanded play time, at affordable prices. In particular, smartphone OEMs continued to focus on TWS products to expand their smart ecosystem, resulting in increased competition and sales in the market.

Note: Figures may not add up to 100% due to rounding

TWS market leader Apple saw a slight increase of 5% YoY in its unit sales but its market share fell to 25.6%. Although the AirPods 3 was released later than expected, the AirPods 2 and AirPods Pro maintained high sales based on promotions throughout the year. With the growing influence of Apple in the Chinese market, sales of old models have also increased significantly. The AirPods 3, primarily doing well in North America and Europe, led the entire TWS market in Q4 2021. Samsung saw a robust growth of 33% YoY with its new models Galaxy Buds Pro and Galaxy Buds 2, released in the first half and second half of the year respectively. Among other brands, Skullcandy and boAt showed noticeable growth, as they became key players in major regions like North America, Europe and India.

Note: Figures may not add up to 100% due to rounding

The growth in the $50-$100 and $200+ segments was notable. JBL and Xiaomi led the growth in the $50-$100 segment with their flagship models, while Skullcandy performed well with its models finding their way to the top 10 list of best-selling models. Apple drove the growth in the $200+ segment with a 75% share. Just like in 2020, the sub-$50 segment accounted for the largest share in 2021 with strong demand from emerging markets like India. Xiaomi recorded the highest sales in the sub-$50 segment, while boAt recorded the highest growth compared to the previous year.

Senior Analyst Liz Lee, who leads Counterpoint’s TWS hearables research, said, “The $50-$100 segment grew significantly YoY, as Xiaomi, which had focused on the sub-$50 segment, tried to expand its lineup to the $50-100 range. Further, the competition in the $50-$100 segment intensified, with smartphone OEMs like OPPO, OnePlus and realme pitted against emerging brands like Skullcandy, JLab and Nothing. All this competition resulted in new products offering good quality and more features at reasonable prices and pushing the market growth in 2021.”

Background

Analyst Contacts:

Liz Lee

Counterpoint Research
press(at)counterpointresearch.com

Infographic: 2021 | Smartwatch

Smartwatch Market Share By Brand, 2021 vs 2020

The global smartwatch market reached 127.5M units in 2021, with shipments of 42.4M in the fourth quarter.
While Apple’s Watch 7 series launch had been delayed to the fourth quarter, Samsung has boosted their market position in 2021 with the successful launch of the Galaxy Watch 4 series.
Similar to its decline in the smartphone market, Huawei showed weaker performance in the smartwatch market compared to 2020. But it still ranked 3rd in the global market.

Smartwatch Market Share By OS, 2021

Smartwatch operating systems: proprietary OS or RTOS still dominates. These lack the ability to install third-party apps.
With the popularity of the Apple Watch, Watch OS holds almost a third of the market.
The biggest change in 2021 in terms of smartwatch OS is Samsung’s move from Tizen to Wear OS. As a result, Google’s Wear OS has increased its share from 3% in 2020 to 10% in 2021.

Smartwatch Market Proportion By Region, 2021

The smartwatch market still has room to grow and shipments are yet centered around advanced markets such as North America and Europe.
China is the largest market for kids’ smartwatches, and this has helped it rank second in regional markets just behind North America in 2021.
The Indian smartwatch market was similar in size to MEA or LATAM in 2020, but recorded explosive growth of four times in 2021, achieving share of close to 10%.

Use the button below to download the high resolution PDF of the infographic:

India Smartwatch Market Sees Record 274% Growth in 2021; Local Brand Noise Remains Leader

Domestic brands captured over 75% of the total market shipments.
Noise led the market in 2021 with a 27% share, while boAt captured the top spot in Q4 2021.
Around 80 brands are present in India’s smartwatch market. Over 10 brands entered the market in 2021.
78% of the shipment came from online channels, where Flipkart and Amazon contribute 48% and 43% shares respectively.

New Delhi, Boston, Toronto, London, Hong Kong, Beijing, Taipei, Seoul – February 9, 2021

India’s smartwatch market saw record growth of over 274% YoY in 2021 shipments, according to the latest research from Counterpoint’s IoT Service. Further, with QoQ growth of over 8%, Q4 2021 became the market’s biggest ever quarter.

Commenting on the market trends, Senior Research Analyst Anshika Jain said, “The smartwatch market is showing tremendous growth, which is attributed to increased health awareness, affordable prices, growth of new entrants, discount schemes and numerous launches of feature-packed products throughout the year. More than 86% of the total shipments were driven by the under-INR 5,000 price band, compared to 59% in the previous year. Many of the features which were earlier present in the INR 3,000 – INR 5,000 price band smartwatches are now found in the INR 2,000 – INR 3,000 segment, like SPO2, blood pressure monitoring, voice assistance and larger display. Even features which were earlier prominent in premium smartwatches, like ECG and Bluetooth calling, can be seen in smartwatches priced under INR 5,000.”

India Smartwatch Market Share of Top 5 Brands, 2021 vs 2020

Source: India Smartwatch Shipments Model Tracker, 2021

Commenting on domestic manufacturing, Jain said, “Although only 1% of the total smartwatches shipped were domestically assembled, this number is likely to jump many times due to duty structure changes and government push.”

Commenting on market trends, Research Associate Harshit Rastogi said, “Indian players led the market by capturing over 75% share. The top three brands captured two-thirds of the total smartwatch market in 2021, compared to just half in 2020. The market saw over 10 new entrants in 2021, intensifying the competition. The market is estimated to grow by around 50% in 2022 considering the high demand and brands’ dedicated efforts to bring additional capabilities to their devices.”

India Smartwatch Market Share of Top 5 Brands, Q4 2021 vs Q4 2020

Source: India Smartwatch Shipments Model Tracker, Q4 2021

Market Summary:

Noise led the market in 2021 with a 27% share and over 278% YoY growth. Portfolio expansion towards lower price points, emphasis on community building, designing products according to preferences backed by a strong consumer database, and new alliances and partnerships helped the brand become the market leader. Four out of the top 10 models in 2021 were from Noise. The ColorFit Pro 2 remained the brand’s most popular smartwatch.
boAt captured the second spot in 2021 with a 26% share. It was at the first position in Q4 2021. boAt completed a year in the smartwatch market in Q4 2021. It has launched over 10 models so far. Its Storm was the best-selling smartwatch in 2021.
Fire Boltt was one of the key new entrants in the smartwatch market. It quickly managed to capture the third position with more than 20 models across price bands. It has a presence in more than 600 cities, major large retail formats, and online The brand also entered the Middle East in 2021.
realme grew 23% YoY in 2021 to take the fourth position driven by a well-balanced portfolio and strong online partnerships. The Watch S contributed to around 30% of its total sales.
Amazfit registered 65% YoY growth and captured the fifth position in the smartwatch market. It led the market in the INR 10,000 – INR 15,000 price band with over one-third of the total shipments. The brand refreshed its portfolio in Q4 2021 with the launch of three new devices – GTR 3, GTR 3 Pro and GTS 3.
Samsung grew more than 2x in 2021 driven by its most popular model, the Galaxy Watch Active 2. The newly introduced Galaxy Watch 4 series contributed to over 16% of its total shipments.
Apple remained flat in 2021 with the Watch SE contributing around 44% of its total volume. The refreshed line-up of Series 7 saw a great start with shipments crossing 100,000 units in Q4 2021.
Dizo entered the smartwatch market in Q3 2021. With successful launches in the budget segment, the brand managed to capture a position in the top 10 The Watch 2 model drove most of its volume.
India’s smartwatch market is mostly online driven, with 78% of the shipment coming from online channels, where Flipkart and Amazon contribute 48% and 43% shares respectively.

Note: boAt’s share includes Tagg’s share

Background

Analyst Contacts:

Anshika Jain

Harshit Rastogi

Counterpoint Research
press(at)counterpointresearch.com

XR (VR/AR) Headset Shipments to Grow 10 Times to Cross 100 Million Units by 2025

London, San Diego, New Delhi, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Seoul, Hong Kong – January 5, 2022

Extended Reality (XR) headset shipments are projected to grow about 10 times from 11 million units in 2021 to 105 million in 2025, according to the latest Counterpoint Global XR (VR/AR) Forecast. The adoption of Virtual Reality (VR) headsets gained pace in 2020 and 2021, thanks primarily to the good performance of the Oculus Quest 2 in the consumer segment and DPVR and Pico in the enterprise segment. We believe XR headset volumes will start picking up significantly in 2022, as it will be the biggest year for new XR product launches, with offerings from the Oculus Quest series, Sony PlayStation VR2 and the most awaited Apple AR glasses. Oculus and Sony have created a strong demand for their devices and built a good user base for upgrades, while Apple has a strong history of gaining volumes in a new category.

Commenting on the market dynamics, Senior Analyst Karn Chauhan said, “VR Standalone has become the device type of choice in the gaming segment primarily due to the success of Oculus’s Quest 2. The wireless form factor is the future for XR headsets. VR Standalone devices are being favored over VR Tethered devices by OEMs and consumers, making the latter a relatively slow-growing form factor. Augmented Reality (AR) has been a small segment since 2016, mainly serving the enterprise segment with high-spec and high-price products. This is unlikely to change in the immediate future. However, with Apple expected to enter the AR Tethered segment, we expect it to become the fastest growing and the second biggest form factor by 2025. This will catalyze the participation of many other brands, especially smartphone OEMs.”

Commenting on the regional performance, Senior Analyst Harmeet Singh Walia said, “North America will remain the biggest XR market, given the size and advancement of its consumer and enterprise users. This demand will be fulfilled by the biggest XR brands of the day such as Oculus and highly anticipated new entrants like Apple. On the other hand, Europe, despite being a major XR market at the moment given the size of its middle class, is expected to see relatively slow growth due to content limitations that are exacerbated by a lack of common language. The fastest growth, therefore, is expected in China, which will benefit from having adopted 5G early and having a common language that makes content creation easy. Some of its demand will be fulfilled by existing OEMs like DPVR and Pico and by major Chinese smartphone OEMs that will follow Apple into the XR segment within the first half of this decade.”

Metaverse, recently the most hyped term on the internet, made industry players interested in it and pushed them to start developing something around it. Metaverse can be a catalyst for the increase in XR volumes in the coming years, as XR devices are the main interface for Metaverse.

Background:

Analyst Contacts:

Peter Richardson

Karn Chauhan

Harmeet Singh Walia

Follow 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

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