New Delhi, March 5 -- As India's once-booming wearables market begins to slow, a clutch of startups is betting that artificial intelligence (AI), not fitness tracking, will define the next phase of growth.

Shipments of wearables in India fell 6.3% year-on-year in the first half of 2025 to 51.6 million units, according to the International Data Corp. The decline comes after years of rapid expansion driven largely by affordable smartwatches focused on step counts, heart rate monitoring and other health metrics.

Now, companies such as Neosapien and antimattr are trying to shift the category away from passive tracking devices and towards AI-first assistants embedded in pendants, earbuds and glasses. Larger players, including Sarvam and Lens...