Samsung beats Apple to lead the smart watch space

The smartwatch industry has been growing rapidly and the demand is likely to continue in the coming years also. India’s smartwatch market saw record growth of over 274 percent year-over-year (YoY) in 2021 shipments, according to Counterpoint’s research reports. Factors such as increased awareness about being fit and healthy, along with increased affordability of wireless fitness and sports devices, with the rise in technological advancements in smartwatches by market players are driving the demand in this segment.

Smart Watch – Brand Affinity Index

*All the graphs show the top 5 brands' scores only

The tremendous growth in the smartwatch space has been led by the two giants once again– Samsung and Apple. They were the leaders in our last year’s users choice awards as well, but this time they just exchanged their places. Last year Apple was the winner by a razor-thin margin and Samsung was the first runner-up. This year Samsung is the winner and Apple is the first runner-up, followed by Fastrack, boAt, and Oppo.

Smart Watch – Spontaneous Brand Awareness

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Nine in every ten users could spontaneously recall Samsung, Apple, and Fastrack scoring 92, 91, and 90 percent respectively. The top three spots in the segment are taken by the category winners, though the difference in the scores is not much. Last year, Samsung led the segment with 82 percent score, Apple and Fastrack got 75 and 45 percent respectively. Xiaomi continued to remain in the fourth spot, while Oppo made it to the top five list replacing Noise.

Smart Watch – Current Usage

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When we asked the users about the smartwatch brand they are using currently, Samsung became the winner (16 percent). Fastrack (12 percent) beat Apple (10 percent) to become the first runner-up in this segment. The low scores of the leading brands tell that consumers are looking for economical products rather than expensive ones. the boAt managed to enter the top five list. Noise shared the fourth spot along with boAt, followed by Xiaomi.

Smart Watch – Future Purchase Consideration

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Once again for future purchases, Apple led the smartwatch category as it did last year with a 55 percent score. However, it got tough competition from Fastrack (52 percent) and the closest rival Samsung (43 percent) was not far behind followed by boAt (20 percent) and Oppo and Fitbit (18 percent) respectively.

Smart Watch– Overall Brand Satisfaction

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When it comes to satisfaction, Samsung beat all the other brands. Though Fastrack was close enough with 98 percent, followed by Apple with 97 percent scores meaning the competition between the three rivals can become very intense at any time in the future with brands like Oppo and boAt gaining momentum.

Smart Watch – Brand Loyalty

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The loyalty scores reflect the rising competition. When we asked users whether they would like to purchase the same brand in the future, it was a close battle between all the brands. As you can see, the first spot is shared by Samsung and Apple (99 percent). For the second, we got three – Oppo, boAt, and Noise (98 percent) followed by Fastrack (97 percent), Amazfit (95 percent), Realme, and Fitbit (94 percent) respectively.

Smart Watch – Brand Advocacy

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Users were asked if they would like to buy the same brand in the future. But would they recommend the same to new buyers also? Well, Oppo got a clear ‘yes’ with a 100 percent score. Samsung lost a bit here with 96 percent recommendation followed by Amazfit, Apple, and boAt. It is a little surprise to see that last year Apple was leading and this time it’s in the fourth spot.

Smart Watch – Reasons for using current Brands

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When we asked why they chose the current brand’s smartwatch, here’s what we got – Apple and Samsung were considered for their brand name and after-sales support/service. Fastrack was chosen for its quality, boAt for the price point, and Oppo for the brand name.

Highlight - Oppo and boAt gaining momentum and moving up the ranks fast

By Satya Sundar Mohanty, CyberMedia Research

Ashok Pandey & Soma Tah, PCQuest

  pcquest@cybermedia.co.in