The smart accessories market has huge potential keeping in view the growth of connected devices in India. By the year 2025, 1.9 billion devices are expected to be connected in India alone. Smart Accessories provides real-time assistance to everyday users, while presenting developers and advertisers with an all-new platform for reaching consumers.
India is anticipated to account for a significant portion of market share in the overall market of mobile phone accessories during the forecast period. Factors such as, increasing penetration of smartphone among masses is anticipated to fuel the growth of the India mobile phone accessories market over the forecast period. In addition, Telcom Regulatory Authority of India stated that over one billion mobile phones were being used through the end of September 2016, which is poised to increase the use of mobile phone accessories across the region. This factor is anticipated to drive the growth of India mobile phone accessories market over the forecast period.
DevcieNext reach out to industry experts to know what they think about this segments and according to them what are the growing trend in this segments.
Consumer trends that will influence Indian market
According to Aashish Kumbhat, Founder and Director, Inbase, nowadays, Indian consumers are more preferred to have multiple health features in the smart accessories. Recently, the Indian market is very keen on having voice calling functional smartwatch. It’s already shaping the direction towards in-built voice assistance of Google Siri and Alexa.
“ I’d say the future is Fitness Gadgets, TWS and VR. Market size and its overview – In India alone, the mobile accessories market is around 10,000 CR. It is currently unorganized and every day we see new players coming in and going out. It’s a highly price sensitive industry, where consumers look for top quality and innovations in the products they purchase. Not just that, customer service is also extremely vital for such a vertical. To survive, we have to be consumer-driven and consumer-centric. Understanding the needs and expectations of customers, will give a brand the right insights to offer good quality yet competitively priced products,” said, Ms. Jyotsna Uttamchandani, Executive Director – Syska.
Strong Distribution Network & After Sale Service: Nowadays, both single-branded and multi-brand stores offer a diverse range of wireless mobile accessories such as Bluetooth, headsets, earphones, chargers, and others online as well as offline, coupling it with after-sales services for long-term profits. Its impact is expected to increase in the near future.
Demand for Innovative Products: As consumers mature, the Indian smartphone market will need to mature too; and given the government initiatives towards making India digital, a lot of mobile handset brands are urged to showcase the best products for consumers to buy.
Increase in Smartphone Adoption: India will be the second-largest smartphone market next year. The motivation of users using a smartphone is primarily for internet use, staying in touch with near and dear ones, explained Mr. Akhilesh Chopra, Sales Director at Bluei
“ Post pandemic, with many Indians facing pay cuts and job losses, the overall consumer approach is still positive. With the evolution of current consumer trends, we are hopeful that things will turnaround in a beneficial manner for the tech market. Consumer trends that can make a big difference to the Indian market are Consumer comfort with online shopping and digital payments, Spending on e-commerce, Adopt value-for-money brands that will deliver the right quality at the right price to consumers, A shift from luxurious goods to durable consumer essentials, Desire for increased convenience and well-being and Increase the share of middle-class consumers in the nearest future,” said, Mr. Ashok Rajpal – Director, Ambrane India..
“There are myriad choices available in the market when it comes to smart and cool accessories. Due to the increasing demand for the accessories available, India is extremely optimistic about the potential growth of this market. Currently, the trend is that there is a high demand for WIRELESS technology which is presently concentrated in the developed countries and is gradually picking up in India and other Asian countries. India is at a budding stage for wireless technology, it is expected to gain momentum regardless of high costs for such gadgets. There are many homegrown companies in India who are striving to introduce innovative products at an affordable price range.
“Technology has been evolving rapidly in the recent years. This coupled with easy accessibility to the internet and growing interest in modern technology, there has been a steady rise in the demand for IoT-enabled devices. In the post-covid 19 era, we expect to witness a sharp shift in the buying habits of our consumers. With work-from-home becoming more common and consumer increasing concern over safety and hygiene, we are witnessing an increase in demand for touch-free or remote operation electrical products that require minimum human intervention. More and more consumers are opting to upgrade to smart homes and the Indian market is expected to see new and innovative smart accessories and devices that will reduce effort and increase convenience, security and safety,” said, Mr. Kishan Jain, Director, Goldmedal Electricals.
“The consumer trends that are bound to influence the market are IoT-powered DIY smart devices that can be connected via internet to convert any home into a smart home. Focused IOT-based smart home gadgets such as smart plugs, IR blasters and other smart devices are making users’ life easy by automating their lifestyle. There are motion sensor lights that turn on automatically indicating movement around it. Our new range of smart products like Clicker, with which one can access and control more than 80,000 home devices, are also engineered keeping the need of the hour and consumer trend in mind,” concluded, Mr. Achin Gupta, Country Head-India at ZOOOK .
Market size and overview
“ Where pandemic has affected the growth of the technology industry strenuously, we haven’t witnessed a wide setback from it. People were more on the search for convenience and durability which we offered them with our value for money products. Delivering during the lockdown was a big challenge for us but we overcame it by taking the best possible preventive measures for the safety of our consumers. Being a leading power bank manufacturer and supplier, our wide range of smart-tech products are now allowing us to enjoy a dominant market share and position. However, we are working continuously to go hand in hand with the trends and making every possible effort to contribute best to our Indian economy,” said, Mr. Ashok Rajpal.
“ Based on the distribution channel, the Indian mobile accessories market is bifurcated into multi-brand stores, single-brand stores, and online store segments. Among distribution channels, the online store segment is anticipated to expand at the highest CAGR of around 12% during the forecast period between 2021 and 2027. North India is poised to record the fastest growth over the forecast period. Factor such as a huge portion of 30% of mobile phone accessories market revenue in North India is anticipated to drive the growth of India’s mobile accessories market over the forecast period,” said, Mr. Akhilesh Chopra.
“Although the Indian market for smart tech is at a nascent stage, it is growing rapidly. The current market size is pegged at $1,790.9 million in 2018 and is projected to reach at $13,574.1 million by 2026. The key drivers of this market are factors like convenience, cost-effectiveness and security,” said, Mr. Kishan Jain, Director, Goldmedal Electricals.
“Undoubtedly the market size is low at present, primarily because of lack of awareness. However, fact also remains that there have been some instrumental changes in people’s lifestyles as far as adoption and affordability is concerned with regard to technology. People are now getting more accustomed to and familiar with connected devices and other smart accessories. This phenomenon has brought about a promising change and the market size is expected to surge at a greater speed,” said, Mr. Achin.
“Globally, the market is very big where the western countries already started showing huge interest. Indian market is slowly penetrating in that direction; we expect 200X growth in next 3 years,” Aashish Kumbhat, Founder and Director, Inbase.
Ecosystem Role
“What I have observed is that there is no such ecosystem that is directly or indirectly affecting the accessories market. However, being also into the retail side of mobile handsets what we have realized is almost all the time accessories are a by-product of a new mobile phone for a buyer. It is either the desire to buy new supporting accessories when you are investing in a new phone or when you are in desperate need (your earphones that came with your phone got damaged). There is also a new trend where millennials want hassle free devices, so they are willing to invest in wireless accessories such as Earbuds or fitness neckbands. Consumers are no longer only building an ecosystem for themselves with their phone, tablet or laptop but also the accessories they are purchasing. Further, in a lot of households in India one mobile accessory – For instance, a powerbank is used by several people in the house. Each person might own a different smartphone brand and you may need a powerbank that supports all these devices. Another example would be of a fitness watch. I’d want it to be working with my Android today and if I ever switch to an Apple I would like it to be seamless and compatible with that as well. From a smart accessories perspective, we must realise that consumers are looking for one device that does everything. For eg. our product SKU – PL002 – it works as an LED lamp upto 8W, has emergency modes, 3 different LED tones, portable to be used when camping and also comes with a built in 20k MAH Powerbank,” said, Ms. Jyotsna Uttamchandani, Executive Director – Syska.
“Proper and clear communication or interaction between every department is a vital essence for the growth of any organization. For us, our strong ecosystem is the backbone behind the success and growth that we are witnessing right now. From leveraging powerful strategies to achieving them requires a properly balanced team and unit who works with the same zeal and passion for a single goal. Exchanging thoughts, sharing of knowledge helped us to build a friendly work culture for our employees and for us too. In such a vibrant environment, where every day is a learning experience for each one of us, always helped us to stay motivated and high-spirited. The understanding and cooperation we share with each other make us not just a well-built company but a strong family,” said Mr. Ashok Rajpal – Director, Ambrane India..
“Providing and sustaining an ecosystem for the smart accessory market is an essential requirement as all these new age devices will be interlinked with each other and this will allow smooth transfer of data from one device to another. Today, we can get our health information collected by your smartwatch on your smartphones and those statistics can be posted on your social media platforms,” said, Aashish Kumbhat, Founder and Director, Inbase
“Smart accessories provide us real-time assistance when it comes to connected devices. These smart devices are the secondary products that enable the primary consumer products to turn smart, therefore, the impact is maximum across all relevant consumer markets. Definitely, the whole ecosystem has a great role to play,” explained, Mr.Achin Gupta, Country Head-India at ZOOOK .
Driving Factors
According to Mr. Akhilesh Chopra, Sales Director at Bluei, young consumers will change the business landscape as e-commerce charges ahead. Physical retail as we know it will transform, giving local businesses new advantages. Consumers want to shop independently. Businesses will adapt to make that easier. More consumers will vote with their wallets. Modern financial solutions will disrupt business and consumer banking, financing, and lending.
“ The world has already stepped into the digital-age and we can proudly state that ‘future is technology.’ There are endless factors and possibilities that possess a huge impact now and in the future. Such impacts are Post-Covid effects, “Make in India” initiative is one such factor that has turned the tide and encouraged, more and more investment in IT infrastructure and manufacturing units that will be going to make India a self-reliant country, Empowerment of value-for-money brands to deliver right quality products to consumers, Adaptation of digital transformation over traditional transactions, Vocal for Local drive that has encouraged and motivated MSME’s to be an active part of trade and a strong contributor to the Indian economy,” said Mr. Ashok Rajpal – Director, Ambrane India..
“ Technology has driven this sector and it will continue to do so. Since IoT devices generate huge amounts of data, machine learning and artificial intelligence will be instrumental in taking this tech ahead. For instance, the data can be used to monitor, analyse and optimize energy consumption of each smart device or accessories. This will enable companies to better understand user behaviour, offer recommendations to improve efficiency and bring innovation and improvement in the products,” said, Mr. Kishan Jain, Director, Goldmedal Electricals.
“ The foremost driving factors would be adaptability to connected devices, internet speed, internet penetration, affordability of smart devices, availability and also voice assistants. 5G rollout is also expected to be a major driving factor in the near future in this regard. It might appear to be a luxury through a myopic vision, the future is all about smart devices. It will become a need as you won’t be able to imagine life without smart devices,” said, Mr. Achin Gupta.
.“ The major factor that drives change in the segment is the Consumer taste which changes drastically. Other factors include innovation, design, features, pricing etc,” added, Aashish Kumbhat, Founder and Director, Inbase.
“The increasing growth of smartphone users, network connectivity – 4G and 5G, faster urbanization are the key aspects. Technology is not only rapidly changing, but also being made available at lower costs. Booming of e-commerce purchases and social trends is also playing a key role in driving the demand across this vertical,” concluded, Ms. Jyotsna Uttamchandani, Executive Director – Syska.
Impact across all relevant consumer markets
“ Like I mentioned, consumers are looking for versatile devices. They want one device that can serve multiple purposes. Be it a fitness band that not only counts their steps but reminds them to drink water or calculates their food. Or be it Earbuds that can be used at the gym or work flawlessly during conference calls at work. Everything today is directly or indirectly and in some way or the other dependent on technology. Hence, the future of smart accessories will drive technology being used at work or home,” said, Ms. Jyotsna Uttamchandani, Executive Director – Syska.
“Smart accessories made a very huge impact in the electronics consumer market. It is expected to rapidly increase the market share going forward and in future it will be the major technological electronic segment,” said, Aashish Kumbhat, Founder and Director, Inbase.
“The impact is visible across consumer markets. The developments in one are bound to positively impact other sectors, just like the virtual assistants have given an impetus to entertainment and online retail. Similarly, smart accessories will influence all consumer markets, including healthcare, financial services, and electronic industries,” said, Mr. Kishan Jain, Director, Goldmedal Electricals.
Fastest growing product segments
“In the new normal, post Covid-19 pandemic, there is a rising demand for smart home devices including touch-free switches, smart LEDs, smart home appliances that can be operated through smartphones and voice assistants,” said, Mr. Kishan Jain, Director, Goldmedal Electricals.
“ With people now more concerned about their fitness than ever, the smart wearables segment is expected to register a phenomenal growth, along with a few other product segments such as Smart Home, Smart Security and Smart Audio devices. As mentioned earlier, Focused IOT-based gadgets and devices are bound to grow faster,” said, Mr. Achin Gupta, Country Head-India at ZOOOK .
“Powerbank, Wireless charge, Headphones & earbuds will grow faster than speakers, mobile cases, smartwatches,” added, Mr. Akhilesh Chopra, Sales Director at Bluei.
“The technology industry is one such industry that will flourish with the smart devices, with their upper hand to the developers and coders. Reshaped with the Industrial revolution in the near future, IoT devices will be the ‘king’ of the tech market, some other products would also have a good market share like Wearable’s, Hearable’s and Fast chargeable devices. However, normal homes will then be converted into smart homes and the people will be much smarter by being well-versed with trends and the updates of the upcoming technology,” said, Mr. Ashok Rajpal – Director, Ambrane India.
“Primary products that will witness a huge growth in terms of demand and sales are smartwatch, true wireless earpods and bluetooth neckband, “ added, Aashish Kumbhat, Founder and Director, Inbase.
“I’d say anything which is fitness oriented and wireless,” concluded, Ms. Jyotsna Uttamchandani, Executive Director – Syska.
