China's wearable device shipments up 25.4% in 2021: Report

Beijing, March 22 China's shipments of wearable devices surged last year, according to an industry report published by global market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC).

In 2021, total shipments of wearable devices rose 25.4 per cent year on year to nearly 140 million units, the report stated.

In breakdown, shipments of ear-worn devices in the Chinese market surged 55.4 per cent from 2020 to 78.98 million units, while that of watches rose 21.4 per cent to 39.56 million units.

Shipments of wristbands, however, went down 26.3 per cent year on year to 19.1 million units last year.

The country's wearable device shipments are expected to rise 18.5 per cent to 160 million units in 2022, according to the report.

Meanwhile, India's wearable market grew by 93.8 per cent year-over-year (YoY) in the third quarter (Q3) this year with shipping 23.8 million units, an IDC report said.

Shipments in September surpassed 10 million, growing two-fold from the same month last year, resulting in a record quarter for wearable devices in India. Vendors remained aggressive in their shipments and were able to manage the inventory for the upcoming month-long festival sales.

Watches continued to be the fastest-growing category with 4.3 million shipments in 3Q21, while wristbands saw a seventh consecutive quarter of annual decline.

Overall wristwear (inclusive of watches and wristbands) crossed the 5 million shipments mark in a single quarter.

Truly Wireless (TWS) devices reached a 39.5 per cent share of earwear in the third quarter, but the market remains dominated by over-the-ear and tethered devices, the report noted.