boAt overtakes Xiaomi, Samsung to become 2nd largest wearable maker after Apple: IDC

While Apple’s 29.9 million in shipments gave it a 29.9 per cent market share in the third quarter of 2023, Imagine Marketing came second, capturing 9.6 per cent of the market with 14.3 million shipments. Imagine Marketing India is the parent company of the audio and wearable brand boAt. Last year, the company was adjudged as the 5th largest wearables brand globally during Q2.

“India’s boAt (Imagine Marketing) moved up to #2 in global wearables in 3Q23. Note that this is an aggregate of all wearables, including earwear/TWS where boAt is concentrated,” said Bryan Ma, technology industry analyst at IDC, in a Tweet.

According to Jitesh Ubrani, research manager, of mobility and consumer device trackers at IDC, the greatest driver of wearables has been the emergence of smaller and sleeker designs. “Smart rings from newer brands such as Oura, Noise, BoAT, Circular, and others are expected to jumpstart the new form factor in the coming quarters while also putting pressure on the incumbent brands to innovate on health tracking,” said Ubrani in a press statement.

On the other hand, Xiaomi came third with 11.6 million shipments and 7.8 per cent market share. Samsung was in the fourth spot with 10.7 million shipments and 7.2 per cent market share, while Huawei closed in at the fifth spot with 8.5 million shipments and 5.7 per cent market share.

IDC stands for International Data Corporation, and the worldwide quarterly wearable device tracker report also stated that the total volume surpassed shipments in 3Q of 2021, which was 142.1 million, and Q3 of 2022, which was 144.6 million. According to IDC, the spurt in growth is largely attributed to the significant rise in the number of smaller brands and emerging categories.

BoAt was founded by Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta in 2014. Over the years, the company’s products have become incredibly popular with Indian consumers. The brand is known mainly for its earphones and other audio products but it also makes other products like smartwatches and speakers.