‘Creating’ The Consumer
In the last few years, the story of wearables, smartwatches and true wireless audio has been nothing short of remarkable. The category’s narrative is about growth but the bigger takeaway is how homegrown brands lead and dominate. The likes of Apple, Samsung and Oppo were not able to dent the market shares of home-grown boAt, Noise, Boult Audio, Fire Boltt and their ilk. The ‘Make in India’ story is prominent, reiterating that when the right people identify a market gap and provide a solution that works, they are likely to succeed.
Against this backdrop, it is interesting to note that a category that grew nearly 35 per cent in the preceding year is expected to grow in single digits in 2024. This may not sound very positive but if you look at the details, you can see the natural progression. If one observes how the category leaders are behaving, for example, the multi-X growth in the likes of advertising expenses or research & development, one can see that these players are eyeing a bigger pie. They plan to build the category further and find a new consumer base to be able to overcome the setback anticipated this year, as our cover feature illuminates.
Who could elucidate this strategy better than the founders of Noise, Amit and Gaurav Khatri? Noise remained bootstrapped for nearly a decade before accepting its maiden investment from a global conglomerate like Bose. For those who know the space, this is signal enough that Noise is going all out as the challenger brand in the true wireless category. Our cover interview captures Amit and Gaurav’s thoughts on their long-term growth plan.
A special package on the FY2025 interim budget paints a vibrant picture of India's progress towards 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047. Highlighting pivotal areas like infrastructure, investment, rural development, housing, education, technology, and green energy, it showcases the government's unwavering commitment to growth. Prioritising capital expenditure not only spurs infrastructure advancements, but also fuels job creation and drives consumer spending. With a steadfast dedication to long-term macroeconomic stability, the government upholds fiscal discipline, evident in its strict adherence to the medium-term fiscal deficit target.
The projected paring down of the fiscal deficit to 5.1 per cent for FY2025 instils confidence in India's promising growth trajectory. Even though this is a pre-election budget, the total subsidy outgo has been trimmed to Rs 4.1 lakh crore for FY2025 from Rs 4.4 lakh crore estimated for FY2024. This takes the subsidy-to-GDP ratio to 1.3 from 1.5 in FY2024 and the peak of 3.8 during the pandemic in FY2021. The overall subsidy burden has gone down mainly owing to a reduction in fertiliser subsidies, while food and petroleum subsidies have reduced marginally compared to FY2024.
Of course, we also bring to you all our regular features and columns.
Happy reading!
