Titan, one of the most prominent manufacturers and suppliers in watches and jewellery, is “very bullish” in terms of their watch division sales, which will soon break through the $1 billion sales milestone in the coming two years, as stated in a press release. Titan has registered a compounded annual growth rate of approximately 16 percent in the last four to five years, and now Titan is targeting the mid-premium analogue segment (Rs 10,000 to 25,000), and the premium segment (Rs 25,000 to one lakh), in order to fuel their growth, Titan Watch Division CEO Kuruvilla Markose was quoted as saying to PTI. In line with the trend of ‘premiumisation,’ revival of analogue watches, Titan is also expanding their Helios, as well as their new Helios Luxe retail formats, since there is a rising demand for luxury watches in India, he said, and added, “Premium and luxury will grow faster, perhaps 30 percent or more.”
With such supportive factors like a growing economy, increased personal income, and a substantial number of young, aspiring generation ‘X’ consumers, Titan is “very bullish on India (watch). The premium and luxury markets will see huge growth,” according to Markose. As of now, Titan has Helios stores numbering about 282. “We are currently operating 5 Helios Luxe stores, soon going to establish 20 stores by the end of FY26 and plan to establish 40 stores by FY27 and would continue to grow,” said Markose. The company caters to about 500 towns and plans to “expand Helios in areas of premium demand.”
Watches above one lakh rupees belong to the luxury category, which is further classified into approachable, aspirational, and absolute luxury categories, and are marketed through Helios and Helios Luxe retail stores. “The share of sales from thepremium segment from FY25 to FY26 has grown by more than double. Titan, Edge, and international brands are witnessing robust performances above Rs 25,000,” Markose said. The ‘Watch & Wearable’ category of Titan Company’s fiscal 2024-25 witnessed a revenue of Rs 4,576 crores, growing at an “over 17% in a defining year,” said the company.
On the expected growth during the current fiscal, he said, “We have been growing from 16 per cent CAGR for the last 4-5 years. We see no reason for any change. If you look at our published performance till Q2, we have pretty much followed that track, continuing to grow 16 to 17 per cent over the last year.” When asked when he expects Titan’s ‘Watch & Wearable’ business to reach USD 1 billion in sales, Markose said, “From a consumer price perspective, we expect to cross a billion dollars next year (FY’27).” Net sales may take another year.”
Besides, Titan is expanding also into other retail formats as Titan World, Fastrack and is also present in large format stores, electronic stores for smartwatches, marketplaces, and our own websites in India and internationally, he added. It will be followed by the growth of the mid-premium analogue segment since India has a large population looking at branded watches as an upgrade from unbranded or informal ones – much like upgrading to cars from two-wheelers. “We are very bullish on India. Premium and luxury segments will grow rapidly, but we will continue serving mass and mid-premium segments as well. We are building capabilities across product, retail, branding, and marketing to serve all segments effectively,” said Kuruvilla Markose, who, earlier this July, was appointed CEO of Titan’s watch division.
Titan, a JV between Tata Group and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation–a government enterprise, would continue to invest in “modernisation, capability building, and horology”. “At higher price points, more than anything else movement quality and complications matter. We have developed in-house automatic movements including India’s first wandering hour. We will continue investing with a mix of in-house, indigenous and global vendor ecosystems,” Markose said.
Regarding the issue of analog vs. smartwatches, he stated that the analog watch is now increasing faster than the digital watch. Yet he still went on to say that “We think that smartwatches are here to stay. And they’re transitioning from something that’s fun to something that’s valuable in terms of fitness, health, and productivity. And our research shows that 20 percent of consumers purchase a smartwatch as a complement to their analog watch. And 30 percent purchase both at the same time.” Markose did not reveal the split between analogue and digital sales of Titan. A question about its international presence in the watches segment elicited this response: “We operate in about 25+ countries, with 75 exclusive brand outlets and over 1,500+ multi-brand outlets. We also operate 10+ country-specific international websites and are present on 40+ global marketplaces.”
