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    TITAN Indian Watch Leader

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    kunal dave
    Titan has held a strong grip on the Indian wristwatch market since its inception in the mid-1980s, retaining over 50% market share. While facing growing international competition, Titan has innovated and expanded into other markets like jewelry and eyewear. Titan launched its first line of watches in 1987 and quickly became the dominant player in India's then-closed market. In response to foreign brands entering the Indian market, Titan has diversified its product lines and launched successful brands like Fastrack watches and Raga watches for women. Titan has also recently launched smartwatch lines and distributes luxury watch brands internationally. However, Titan relies heavily on its reputation and large domestic distribution network and struggles to compete beyond the Rs. 10,

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    TITAN Indian Watch Leader

    Uploaded by

    kunal dave
    46 views2 pages
    Titan has held a strong grip on the Indian wristwatch market since its inception in the mid-1980s, retaining over 50% market share. While facing growing international competition, Titan has innovated and expanded into other markets like jewelry and eyewear. Titan launched its first line of watches in 1987 and quickly became the dominant player in India's then-closed market. In response to foreign brands entering the Indian market, Titan has diversified its product lines and launched successful brands like Fastrack watches and Raga watches for women. Titan has also recently launched smartwatch lines and distributes luxury watch brands internationally. However, Titan relies heavily on its reputation and large domestic distribution network and struggles to compete beyond the Rs. 10,

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    TITAN Indian watch leader

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    Titan has held a strong grip on the Indian wristwatch market since its inception in the mid-1980s, retaining over 50% market share. While facing growing international competition, Titan has innovated and expanded into other markets like jewelry and eyewear. Titan launched its first line of watches in 1987 and quickly became the dominant player in India's then-closed market. In response to foreign brands entering the Indian market, Titan has diversified its product lines and launched successful brands like Fastrack watches and Raga watches for women. Titan has also recently launched smartwatch lines and distributes luxury watch brands internationally. However, Titan relies heavily on its reputation and large domestic distribution network and struggles to compete beyond the Rs. 10,

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    46 views2 pages

    TITAN Indian Watch Leader

    Uploaded by

    kunal dave
    Titan has held a strong grip on the Indian wristwatch market since its inception in the mid-1980s, retaining over 50% market share. While facing growing international competition, Titan has innovated and expanded into other markets like jewelry and eyewear. Titan launched its first line of watches in 1987 and quickly became the dominant player in India's then-closed market. In response to foreign brands entering the Indian market, Titan has diversified its product lines and launched successful brands like Fastrack watches and Raga watches for women. Titan has also recently launched smartwatch lines and distributes luxury watch brands internationally. However, Titan relies heavily on its reputation and large domestic distribution network and struggles to compete beyond the Rs. 10,

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    TITAN, KEEPING THE MARKET LOCAL

    The Indian flagship brand has held and even strengthened its strong grip on
    the local wristwatch market since its inception in the mid-eighties. Despite
    retaining more than a 50% share, the group is not resting on its laurels and
    continues to innovate, and even successfully expand into other markets like
    jewellery and eyewear. Appealing to a large segment of the Indian population,
    the group has so far managed to stay the course, despite growing
    international competition.
    Titan’s rise has been steady since the 1984 joint venture between the Tata
    conglomerate and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation
    (TIDCO), which gave it birth. Titan Watches Ltd, soon changed
    to Titan Industries Ltd, launched its first line of wristwatches three years later,
    becoming the dominant player in a closed market in just a few years. “When
    we started in 87 we had one market, one watch brand and came out with well
    designed quartz watches. From 87 to the early 90s we rapidly became very
    popular around India, and started putting up our own showrooms. After that,
    we expanded to jewellery and the watch business expanded to Middle East,
    parts of Europe and south east Asia,” says Suparna Mitra, head of marketing
    at Titan.
    The entry of foreign brands into the market has forced the group to diversify its
    products, something it has been able to do well. Its Fastrack line, chunky
    sporty watches in the 1000 to 3000-rupee range, has been extremely popular
    with young people since its launch in 2004. Other models, like the Raga line
    exclusively for women, which came on the market a few years later, or the
    Octane chronograph line for men revealed last June have also been a
    success. To keep up with trends in the market, the group has recently
    launched its line of smartwatches, the Juxt and Juxt Pro models, soon to be
    followed by the Gesture, in a few months from now. Only time will tell if they
    will be able to compete with big players like Samsung or Apple. Over the
    years, Titan has however developed a wide array of models to maintain its
    share of an increasingly competitive market. “Titan has done
    what Swatch Group has done. It starts at less than 1000 rupees and goes up
    to premium brands. A Titan Nebula will start from a Lakh (100,000 rupees).
    They also brought over Favre-Leuba and they are now retailing and
    distributing Mont-Blanc,” says Sunil Karer of Watch Market Review In addition
    to these luxury brands, the Indian group also has a retailing license for several
    international mid-market fashion brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Kenneth Cole
    and Police. It uses its chain of multi brand retail stores, Helios, to sell these
    brands. Titan has two main advantages: a reputation of reliability and “bang
    for your buck”, and a large distribution network, both of which come with three
    decades of operating in India. “Our brand name is associated with trust and
    quality and our after-sales network is big. We also have more than 700 brick-
    and-mortar stores across the country,” explains Suparna Mitra. The Indian
    giant has done particularly well in penetrating semi-urban and rural areas,
    where disposable income is lower. “Our Sonata Modern, which caters to the
    500 to 2000 rupee bracket, is doing great in those areas,” says Mitra.
    An overwhelming proportion of Titan’s market share is indeed in the lower-
    price segment. Its luxury watches, like the Nebula, struggle to compete with
    established Swiss brands. “Beyond 10,000 rupees, Titan are losing the
    market,” asserts Dinesh Kumar, who claims average sales of 500 to
    600 Titan watches per month at his store. This focus and reliance on the
    lower-end segment has so far paid off in India, as wristwatch sales are still
    growing at a healthy 9% annually. As competition intensifies, Titan is at risk of
    losing its dominance over the market. Its international operations may give a
    glimpse of this scenario. While the Indian group is present in 32 countries,
    mainly in the Middle East, South and South-East Asia, its penetration in those
    countries remains shallow. “International business is a smaller part of the
    watch division. Also, unlike India, most markets abroad are highly cluttered
    with cut-throat competition. The number of active brands is significantly more.
    And so most brands enjoy only single digit market share. This is true
    for Titan as well in our key markets,” says Vijesh Rajan, head of international
    operations for Titan. The Indian giant has not yet, for now, made a mark
    outside its own borders.

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