This article focuses on HMT and Titan, the two most widely known wrist watch companies in India. While the former has been reduced from being the market leader to a fringe player on the verge of oblivion, the latter has grown to great heights. The path traversed by these two companies, encapsulated in the broader context of the dynamics of the Indian wrist watch market, is captured here.

In a broad sense, the wrist watch market in India can be categorized into four hierarchical segments:

At the lowest level are the absolutely inexpensive digital quartz watches, mostly with plastic case and strap and LCD display. These are predominantly smuggled/imported and are primarily sold on the foot paths at rock bottom prices of Rs. 40 to Rs. 200 per piece. They are of use-and-throw type with limited lifespan and could even be considered as "toys" rather than as "wrist watches". Currently, it is estimated that around 10 million such watches are sold in India annually. At an average unit price of Rs. 100, this segment would amount to Rs. 1000 mn by value (Refer Exhibit I).

At the next rung is what may be called the unorganized sector or gray market. This comprises a heterogeneous mix of low-priced watches from numerous small players. Some of these may be imported or smuggled in fully finished form (mainly from China and Korea), while others may be assembled in India from smuggled or legally imported modules. Some of these are acknowledged imitations of well-known brands, while others are spurious fakes masquerading to be the originals. Earlier, HMT's mechanical hand-wound models used to be the favourite targets for imitation.

Effective Executive Magazine, HMT and TITAN, Wrist Watch Market, Timex Brands, Timex India Limited, Technomarine, Hindustan Machine Tools, Technological Revolution, Tamilnadu Industrial Development Corporation, TIDCO, Timex Corporation, Indian Government, Modern Technology.