Fire-Boltt eyes 5 times business growth in FY23, to scale up smartwatches- QHN

Wearable and audio devices maker Fire-Boltt expects around five times growth in business to Rs 2,400 crore this fiscal with its plans to enhance brand loyalty of customers and offer specialised features for sports, fitness and healthcare, a top official of the company said.

Fire-Boltt Founder and CEO Arnav Kishore told PTI that the company will start making all smartwatches in India in the next three months and expects to increase its market share in the category to 50 per cent in the next 12-18 months.

The company is eyeing the smartphone user base in India, projected to reach 100 crore in a few years, from where it expects high level of traction for smartwatches.

“We are aggressively focusing on the marketing campaigns in order to increase brand loyalty. In terms of revenue, we clocked around Rs 500 crore last fiscal year. Till September 2022, we have clocked around Rs 1,200 crore and expect close to Rs 2,400 crore (this fiscal),” Kishore told PTI.

According to Counterpoint Research, India’s smartwatch market grew by more than 300 per cent year-over-year (YoY) to overtake China for the second spot, with Fire-Boltt becoming the fourth largest global smartwatch company with 6.3 per cent market share in the second quarter of 2022.

The company at present has 30 per cent market share in India, as per market research estimates.

“Our vision is to reach closer to that 50 per cent mark in the next 12 to 18 months. In order to get a bigger market share in the industry, we will focus on the product as consumers look forward to the latest technology and innovation. Second, brand loyalty is quite low, thus the type of products being offered by the company and the price point are more important considerations,” Kishore noted.

The company has roped in celebrities like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Vicky Kaushal, Vijay Deverakonda and Kiara Advani in the last one year to reach out to its target market.

Kishore said rather than just working on hardware, Fire-Boltt is focusing on the ecosystem and the software side as in the long run consumers will like to be part of the broader ecosystem.

“We are working on a range of smartwatches specifically for the fitness enthusiasts who are into scuba diving. As there are no dive computers in India, we are working on a smartwatch which can take you to really deep, say 200 metres, and it provides real time statistics about scuba diving metrics.

“Similarly, if you look at golf or tennis, we want to develop the right kind of algorithms that can cater to the smartwatch,” he said.

The Fire-Boltt also founder sees running as a major emerging fitness category that will adopt smartwatches in a big way. He said that the company is developing running specific smartwatches which will enable runners to track real time analysis and metrics and it will be synchronised with users’ smart shoes.

“On the health and fitness side, we are going to unveil a platform soon where consumers will be able to get automated coaching related to nutrition as it is an important component for fitness and gym enthusiasts. We are also creating a whole different community where one can interact with their friends and family and keep a check on their health performance,” Kishore said.

Talking about indigenisation of smartwatches, Kishore said that the company is moving towards 100 per cent localisation in the next three months.

“At the moment, we are at 70 per cent localisation. This initiative will help us in optimising the cost of products and offering them to our customers at an affordable price in India. We are the first brand to make a smartwatch in the state of Telangana…We are planning to produce 10 lakh units per month in India from next month onwards as part of our India manufacturing plan,” he said.