New Delhi, Nov 23 (IANS): India's smartwatch shipments grew 21 per cent (year-on-year) in the third quarter (Q3) of 2023 (July-September), with Fire-Boltt leading the market, a new report showed on Thursday.

According to Counterpoint Research, the market share of domestic manufacturing reached the highest ever at 82 per cent, compared to just 4 per cent a year ago.

The growth in Q3 was driven by high inventory build-up for the festive season sales in October.

"In this quarter, we saw features like larger screens and OLED displays further trickling down to the lower price bands. As a result, in the Rs 2,000-Rs 3,000 price band, the contribution of >1.9-inch smartwatches stood at 21 per cent, while over half of the devices were available with OLED displays," said Senior Research Analyst Anshika Jain.

Fire-Boltt led the market with a 28 per cent share and sported the widest portfolio. It also had the lowest ASP (average selling price) among the top three players, the report said.

Moreover, Noise captured the second spot with a 24 per cent share, boAt secured the third spot with a 16 per cent share, and Fastrack, a sub-brand of Titan, captured the fourth spot with an eight per cent market share.

beatXP entered the top five for the first time after registering 4X (quarter-on-quarter) growth in Q3 2023.

According to the report, Apple shipments declined by 52 per cent as its new series became available in late September and without a refresh to the Watch SE 2022.

The brand, however, remained the market leader in the >Rs 20,000 retail price band.

"Due to continuous push towards budget offerings, India’s smartwatch ASP (average selling price) declined by 41 per cent (year-on-year) to reach its lowest-ever level. As a result, over three-fifths of the market now comes under the