Boat emerges the leader as Indian brands dominate wireless earbuds market – Times of India

Home-based vendors continue to dominate the country’s truly wireless stereo (TWS) market. According to International Data Corporation (IDC), India-based vendors captured over 65% of shipments in the TWS category in 2021. The market share was about 50% in 2020.
As per the report, Boat was the market leader in the TWS segment contributing to two-fifth of the shipments during the year. The company saw 187.9% (Year-on-Year) YoY growth in 2021 compared to 2020. Nexxbase (Noise), on the other hand, witnessed 194.7% YoY growth during the year and captured 7.5% of the total market share. Palred (pTron) had a market share of 6.0% share and saw 36.8% YoY growth.
Aggressive pricing, wide portfolio, digital campaigns, celebrity endorsements, sponsorships, and partnership strategy are some of the factors that contributed to the brands’ success, IDC report says.
Indian TWS market, IDC says, witnessed a record year, shipping 20.3 million units with a healthy 74.7% YoY (year-over-year) growth in 2021. “The pandemic driven use cases continued to generate the demand for smart audio devices, with tripled shipments YoY in the first half of the year. Festive discounts, competitive pricing, multiple launches and new entrants led to strong adoption in the latter part of the year,” it states.
While Boat retained its top position in the TWS segment, Realme came second with a market share of 7.7% in 2021. Compared to 13.1% in 2020, its market share declined by about 6%.
Another brand that witnessed a decline in its market share is Samsung. Its total market share in India for the TWS segment was 10.6% in 2020 which dropped to 4.7% in 2021.
New brands like Nothing, Google, and LG electronics had an ‘encouraging reception’ and showed consumer enthusiasm in the mid-end segment, the report says.