Large companies selling wearables, headphones and more, have begun expanding local manufacturing to improve the margins, have more control over their supply chains and reduce dependence on Chinese imports combined with the push to manufacture mobile phones in India.
Optiemus Electronics, a homegrown manufacturer approved to receive benefits from the government’s production linked incentive for mobile phones, has started manufacturing “dozens” of hearable and wearable products at its Noida units.
The company is making products for Noise, a brand owned by Gurugram-based Nexxbase Marketing Pvt. Ltd, which leads the wearable market in India with a 26% share of shipments in Q3CY21. The hearables market includes truly wireless headphones, which fit in a person’s ear and connect to phones through Bluetooth.
Optiemus is also opening a manufacturing facility in Noida, which will be operational in the next four to five months. This will be its third plant in India, and include accessories along with mobile phones, etc.
Local demand for wearables and hearables has escalated after the pandemic. India’s wearable market grew by 93.8% year-over-year in the third quarter of 2021. A total of 23.8 million units were shipped during the quarter.