Titan had acquired HUG Innovations, which is a Hyderabad based wearables and technology company. The amount at which Titan bought HUG is unknown. This was done in order to establish their superiority in the watch business for the digital space. Titan had earlier stated that they had plans for launching a smartwatch this quarter year. This smartwatch was aimed to be in the affordable smartwatches range.
The Hyderabad Development Centre will be formed by the 23 membered team of HUG. This team is aimed at assisting with the correct expertise in cloud technology, hardware, and software. This acquisition has given Titan complete access to their consumer platforms and IPs. S Ravi Kant, CEO of the watches and variables business stated that the establishment of the Hyderabad Development Centre had strengthened their journey in the wearables business. This journey has been embarking on the path in which India is the 3rd largest wearables producing country and Titan is the second-largest wearable producing company in India.
This centre is also aimed at aiding Titan to develop and enhance its technological expertise and grow its consumer platform. This had been done by combining its already existing strengths of designing and consumer insights. Raj Neravati, the founder of HUG, had four products including the smartwatch. This was started with a motive with concerns regarding women’s safety, mainly because of the Nirbhaya incident which occurred in 2012.
The smartwatch has collaborated with Foxconn and has embedded safety features. Customers preferred a new phone as compared to a smartwatch with identical features. This is the reason for the downfall of Titan in the past years. While the sales of watches do not contribute much to the revenue, it had been regarded as the second biggest business after the jewellery business.
