Wireless earbuds market to grow at 41%, boAT maintains its leadership: Report

Wireless stereo earbuds market is set to grow at 41 per cent annually in current financial year on the back of upcoming festive season and market's growing traction, according to research firm Counterpoint Technology Market Research.

India’s True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earbuds shipments grew 34 per cent annually in second quarter of current calendar year, according to research from Counterpoint. 

“The growth was primarily driven by demand for low-priced models, increasingly affordable new launches, and seasonal sales events like Flipkart Big Saving Days, Amazon Prime Days, brand-owned celebrations and offline events,” Counterpoint said.

“India ranked second in terms of global TWS shipments for the third consecutive quarter with a 15 per cent share in Q22023 driven by increasing consumer preference, growing focus on the gaming aspect, skyrocketing shipments of locally manufactured TWS and multiple launches in the affordable segment. In Q2 2023, 81 per cent of India’s TWS shipments were dominated by products priced below Rs 2,000. boAT took a 6 per cent global TWS shipment share and captured the third spot in the global TWS market in Q2 2023,” said Anshika Jain, senior research analyst at Counterpoint Research.

Aman Gupta-led boAT maintained its market leadership for the twelfth straight quarter with 17 per cent annual growth. Six of boAt’s models were featured in the top 10 best-selling model list.

BoultAudio ranked second in the top10 list with almost two-fold annual growth. During second quarter, the brand continued to offer multiple new launches in the low-price segments (Rs 1,000-Rs 2,000) with 25+active TWS models.

OnePlus captured the third spot for the first time after skyrocketing 228 per cent annually driven by its mid-price tier Nord series, which accounted for more than 80 per cent of the brand’s portfolio. OnePlus was the only non-Indian brand in the top five list.

Indian earbud brands accounted for 75 per cent  of total India shipments in April-June period, down from 80 per cent in the same quarter a year ago.

Reportedly, Chinese brands gained some share from Indian brands in second quarter, while the share of global brands remained flat at 7 per cent. Chinese brands captured a 17 per cent share – the highest ever in the past seven quarters. This was driven by OnePlus’ newly launched device Nord Buds 2. OPPO, realme, and Xiaomi also supported the growth of Chinese brands, Counterpoint Research added.