PCQ User’s Choice Awards 2021: Apple-Samsung rule the roost

None other than Apple and Samsung grabbed the smart watch market, which continues to see high growth.

The Smart watch industry has grown at an incremental pace in recent years. It looks like the industry maintained the trend, even after the pandemic hits the globe. Smart watch market is expected to grow by 20 per cent. An IDC report suggested that Apple has sold a record high number of units in the third quarter of 2020.

The smart watch market in India has seen tremendous growth and Apple led the segment. Samsung became the first runner-up with a very small difference, followed by Fastrack, Xiaomi, and Noise. Apple and Samsung, both are preferred choices of consumers for its brand name and quality.

Almost three in every five users could spontaneously recall Apple, scoring 75 per cent. However, Samsung led the segment with the highest 82 per cent score. Fastrack has got a really good response with 45 per cent brand awareness, while Xiaomi scored 27 per cent, followed by Noise with 25 per cent. Xiaomi and Noise, both are attracting consumers with its affordable devices, whereas Apple and Samsung have premium products.

Currently, most of our respondents are using Samsung smart watch. But Apple is not far behind, actually almost every brand got quite less differences. Samsung holds 21 per cent share while Apple got 18 per cent, followed by Xiaomi that holds 14 per cent, Noise – 11, and Fastrack 9 per cent. We can say due to pricing Xiaomi and Noise both hold fairly higher market share, but quality competes over pricing.

When asked for future consideration, again Apple led the segment with 46 per cent vote share. Samsung achieved 38 per cent, followed by Fastrack – 24, Xiaomi – 17, and Noise – 11 per cent.

When it comes to satisfaction, Apple again becomes the first choice of our respondents with maximum vote share of 96 per cent. Samsung lost just two points compared to Apple and become the first runner-up with 94 per cent vote share, followed by Fastrack – 87, Xiaomi – 84, and Nose – 80 per cent.

What will be the future? Would you consider buying the existing brand once again? This question defines the loyalty of users to the brand they are currently using. Apple again holds strong confidence here with the highest score of 92. Samsung got - 88, followed by Fastrack – 86, Xiaomi – 80, and Noise – 78.

Not only would they buy the brand as well they would recommend the same to their friends and family. When asked about the recommendation (Advocacy), the results were quite similar to the loyalty: Apple – 56, Samsung – 52, Fastrack – 33, Xiaomi – 30, and Noise – 28.

Apple is mostly preferred for its brand name and Samsung for its quality of product, while both are considered for their pricing along with Fastrack.