Indian companies dominate the TWS segment with over 70% of the market share, but domestic manufacturing remains at 16% at best

• The Indian true wireless earbuds shipments have recorded a 168% growth in Q2 2022.
• Domestic companies account for over 70% of the TWS market in the country.
• The local production by these companies has reached 16%, an all-time high.

True wireless earbuds (TWS) have become as common as smartphones in India and have become one of the most common accessories a smartphone user buys in the country and are no longer something only the rich buy.

The increased popularity of TWS earbuds has greatly boosted their shipments in the country. In Q2 2022, TWS earbuds shipments recorded a 168% year-on-year growth and a 62% quarter-on-quarter growth.

“India’s TWS market continues to show phenomenal growth due to the reasons like availability of low-priced new TWS devices, better features and functionalities like ANC, innovative designs, and low-latency mode for gaming,” said Anshika Jain, senior analyst, Counterpoint Research.

Dominance of domestic companies

When we talk about audio devices, the first companies that come to your mind may be Sony, Bose or JBL. You may also think about companies like Samsung, Apple and OnePlus that offer popular TWS devices.

However, the TWS segment’s growth is fueled by domestic companies like boAt, noise and Boult Audio. In fact, Indian companies occupied the top five positions in terms of shipments in Q2 2022 and reported a combined market share of over 70%.


boAt is the current leader of the TWS segment and reported a 46% market share, capturing nearly half of the market. The next four positions were captured by noise, Boult, MIVI and pTron.

Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta led boAt has been dominating the TWS segment in India for quite some time now due to its affordable offerings. The company reported a staggering 236% year-on-year growth in Q2 2022.

Speaking about the dominance of the Indian companies in the TWS segment, Liz Lee, the associate research director at Counterpoint, said, “These brands together took over 70% share and were quite aggressive in their marketing strategies, introducing new advanced alternatives at affordable prices along with discount schemes through various sales events. Besides, there has been a growing emphasis on roping brand ambassadors to capture customer mindshare.”

Most of it is imported

Despite domestic companies dominating the TWS segment in the country, over nearly 85% of the devices are still being imported from other countries, mainly China.

Domestic production gets a push

In Q2 2022, the share of domestic manufacturing was just 16%; however, this is an all-time high and is expected to grow further in the coming quarters.

“The share of domestic manufacturing stood at 16%, the highest ever. With boAt, Noise, Mivi and pTron ramping up their local manufacturing capabilities, these brands together accounted for 98% of the domestic shipment volume in Q2 2022,” said Jain.

Domestic production has received a boost as companies are looking to expand production in the country as part of the “Make in India” scheme.

“Made in India has been taking the spotlight since this year. But more brands started focusing on local manufacturing this quarter,” Jain added.

The Indian government has announced several schemes such as the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, which offers incentives based on the production to companies who produce domestically.

The government also increased the customs duty on headphones and earphones during the Budget 2022, making it costlier to import these devices.

boAt and pTron speak about their existing manufacturing and future plans

“We have manufactured more than 4 million units in FY23 (to date) under our Make in India strategy. Some of our best-selling products like Airdopes 131, Airdopes 411 ANC, Xtend Sport and Storm Pro are being manufactured locally and are available on all major sales platforms. We plan on further increasing our production quarterly,” said Vivek Gambhir, chief executive officer, boAt.

“We have made significant investments in building an Indian manufacturing ecosystem and are keen to capitalize on the “Make-in-India” initiative through contract manufacturing. We have begun working with over 10 suppliers in India for products across categories. We facilitate development and procurement for these suppliers while making investments in moulds, and establishing quality parameters and testing protocols,” Gambhir added.

“Being a home-grown brand, we constantly strive to offer our consumers best in terms of features and pricing which requires tremendous research and better control on production. Hence, moving the production to India is an important step for us to have better pricing control while ensuring great product quality,” said Ameen Khwaja, chief executive officer, pTron.

“Currently 10% of our products are manufactured in India and aim to increase this to up to 50% by end of the year,” Khwaja added.

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