Boat: Indian market growing at good pace; international blueprint by FY25: Boat cofounder Aman Gupta

The audio and wearables market in India is growing at a good pace, driving incremental revenue and production ramp-up plans for Boat, and the company’s international blueprint will be set in motion only from FY25 onwards, its cofounder Aman Gupta has said. The overseas plans are currently in the making, but for now, the company is determined to cement its position in the smartwatches segment, its biggest focus this year.

“For this year, our focus is not international…we are putting (building) blocks so that by next year, we should start looking at international…This year, we are trying to test the waters with some markets,” Gupta told PTI.

Overall, Boat is targeting gross sales of about Rs 5,000 crore in FY24.

“The market is growing at a very good pace. In audio, we are the market leaders, while in wearables, we are competing with different players and competition keeps changing. The smartwatch market is growing at a high, good pace, and that is our biggest focus now, this year,” he said.

For FY23, its total sales were over Rs 4,000 crore.

When Boat entered the audio segment, there were almost 200 brands, but the company cut through the clutter and over the last 10 quarters cemented its lead.

“So, when we do it we do it well,” Gupta emphasised. Unlike other players in the market, Boat has its own platform play, he said, adding “We have invested in KaHa technologies (end-to-end smart IoT product development company) to own our platform, design-wise, style-wise, make-in-India wise…everything is getting sorted,” Gupta said.

“This is just the beginning,” he promised and added, “We will come strong in smartwatches, as well”.

Asked about the overseas market that seems to hold potential, Gupta cited markets like Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia and the UAE.

“Still, it is too early to talk about international plans,” he said.

On the manufacturing scale-up, Gupta said that at present in the watch segment, 75-80 per cent of Boat products are made in India, whereas the same for audio products stands at 30-50 per cent.

“Average of 60-70 per cent is what we are making in India. It is not easy to shift everything to India, immediately. It takes time…We are taking baby steps, we don’t want to do it in a hurry,” he said.

Gupta highlighted that Boat will scale up production in India in both categories – audio and wearable.

“The Dixon JV is starting to get operational, and we will be shifting a lot of products and production to that JV,” he said.

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The audio and wearables market in India is growing at a good pace, driving incremental revenue and production ramp-up plans for Boat, and the company’s international blueprint will be set in motion only from FY25 onwards, its cofounder Aman Gupta has said. The overseas plans are currently in the making, but for now, the company is determined to cement its position in the smartwatches segment, its biggest focus this year.

“For this year, our focus is not international…we are putting (building) blocks so that by next year, we should start looking at international…This year, we are trying to test the waters with some markets,” Gupta told PTI.

Overall, Boat is targeting gross sales of about Rs 5,000 crore in FY24.

“The market is growing at a very good pace. In audio, we are the market leaders, while in wearables, we are competing with different players and competition keeps changing. The smartwatch market is growing at a high, good pace, and that is our biggest focus now, this year,” he said.

For FY23, its total sales were over Rs 4,000 crore.

When Boat entered the audio segment, there were almost 200 brands, but the company cut through the clutter and over the last 10 quarters cemented its lead.

“So, when we do it we do it well,” Gupta emphasised. Unlike other players in the market, Boat has its own platform play, he said, adding “We have invested in KaHa technologies (end-to-end smart IoT product development company) to own our platform, design-wise, style-wise, make-in-India wise…everything is getting sorted,” Gupta said.

“This is just the beginning,” he promised and added, “We will come strong in smartwatches, as well”.

Asked about the overseas market that seems to hold potential, Gupta cited markets like Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia and the UAE.

“Still, it is too early to talk about international plans,” he said.

On the manufacturing scale-up, Gupta said that at present in the watch segment, 75-80 per cent of Boat products are made in India, whereas the same for audio products stands at 30-50 per cent.

“Average of 60-70 per cent is what we are making in India. It is not easy to shift everything to India, immediately. It takes time…We are taking baby steps, we don’t want to do it in a hurry,” he said.

Gupta highlighted that Boat will scale up production in India in both categories – audio and wearable.

“The Dixon JV is starting to get operational, and we will be shifting a lot of products and production to that JV,” he said.

Stay on top of technology and startup news that matters. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for the latest and must-read tech news, delivered straight to your inbox.