Counterpoint: India's TWS shipments to double year-on-year in the third quarter of 2022

According to the latest research from Counterpoint, TWS (True Wireless Stereo Headset) shipments in India doubled year-on-year in the third quarter of 2022. The growth was mainly driven by festive season inventory and strong pent-up demand, multiple new product launches, discounts and promotions.

Commenting on the brand performance, Senior Research Analyst Anshika Jain said, "The top five TWS brands in India - boAt, Noise, Mivi, OnePlus and Boult Audio - accounted for nearly 70% of the total shipments. OnePlus returned to the top five with its two recently launched products, Nord Buds and Nord Buds CE, at affordable prices. Indian brands saw the fastest year-on-year growth in shipments in the third quarter of 2022, reaching 143%, the highest shipment volume ever."

In the third quarter of 2022, dominant Indian brands lost a small portion of their share to Chinese and global brands.

• Driven by boAt, Noise, Mivi, Boult Audio and Ptron, Indian brands grew 143% year-on-year in Q3 2022. All new entrants in Q3 2022 were local brands, namely Mobatree, 5Elements, Duffer and Lyne (a sub-brand of U&I). In addition, Indian brands have a high penetration in the low-price market (less than INR 2,000 or less than USD 50), with a cumulative share of 95%.
• Chinese brands grew their share by 13% in the third quarter of 2022. OnePlus drove this growth by offering a feature-rich device, the Nord Buds CE, at its lowest price. The good performance of the Nord Buds model also contributed to its growth. Realme and OPPO also offered several new advanced TWS devices, further supporting the growth of Chinese brands.
• Global brands that primarily cater to the premium segment (greater than INR 5000) saw growth strengthened by the launch of the much-awaited new model, Airpods Pro (2nd generation), by Apple. Driven by Samsung, JBL and Apple, global brands achieved a 91% QoQ growth and 9% YoY growth in Q3 2022.