- boAt maintained its market leadership with a 33% share, followed by Boult and Noise.
- Chinese brands have shown the fastest YoY growth of 33%, capturing a 16% share in 2024.
- realme emerged as the fastest-growing brand among the top 10 in 2024, achieving 55% YoY growth due to its portfolio refresh.
- Shipments between INR 1,500 and INR 2,000 experienced the highest YoY growth in 2024.
- Nearly three out of four TWS devices were sold online in 2024, though offline shipments grew faster with expansion in Tier II and Tier III cities.
India’s TWS market shipments rose 14% YoY in 2024, according to the latest research from Counterpoint’s Consumer IoT service. The growth in shipments was driven by seasonal sales events, affordable offerings, and usage expansion towards various applications, coupled with broader channel availability. However, this period marked the market’s slowest growth, indicating that it is slowly moving towards maturity. The contributing factors for this modest growth include fewer new product launches and the deceleration in the growth of first-time users.
Commenting on the 2024 TWS market dynamics, Senior Research Analyst Anshika Jain said, “India’s TWS devices witnessed significant improvements in sound quality, design innovation, and gaming-focused devices across various price bands, which helped the market reach over $1.3 billion in 2024. The budget segment INR 1,500-INR 2,000 ($17-$23) performed well, registering the highest growth of 52% YoY in 2024Popular OEMs such as HP, Poco, vivo, and IQOO also marked their entry in this price segment for the first time, along with portfolio expansion by Xiaomi. Due to the multiple offerings in this price segment, the brands have added premium features such as ANC, transparency mode, and better ergonomics to the device to compete in this segment. Supportively, manufacturers focus on enhancing battery efficiency and adopting fast-changing technologies to meet consumer demands for longer battery life. As we advance, we can expect the emergence of Artificial intelligence-based TWS earbuds for personalized sound profiles and noise cancellation, making the devices more user-friendly and functional.”
Jain added, “Looking at brand origin, Indian and Global brands lost some of their share to Chinese Players this year. Chinese brands captured a 16% share in 2024, rising 33% YoY, driven by the impressive performance of OnePlus devices like the Nord Buds 2R and Buds 3. realme and Xiaomi supported the growth of Chinese brands. Global brands captured the least-ever 6% share led by JBL, CMF and Apple.”
Source: India Hearables (TWS) Shipments, Model Tracker, December 2024
Regarding channel performance, Jain commented, “Nearly 75% of TWS devices were sold online in 2024. However, offline shipments experienced a faster growth rate, with a 42% YoY increase. As online platforms exhibit signs of maturity, with the advent of quick commerce and other fast delivery options, numerous TWS brands have shifted their focus to offline expansion. These brands have extended their offline retail presence by entering Tier II and Tier III cities. Additionally, large-format retail (LFR) stores offer competitive promotions to customers during festive season sales, including bundling offers, cash discounts, bank offers, and gifts.”
