The first consumer tech brand of Chinese smartphone maker Realme, DIZO Friday named Abhilash Panda as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Spokesperson for DIZO India.

Panda joins DIZO India from homegrown e-commerce marketplace Flipkart where he was Director for Mobile Phones.

An experienced industry executive, he has previously worked with technology brands such as Realme in his past stint at Flipkart, according to an official statement.

Panda has been leading the DIZO operations in India and now will also extend his responsibilities as the official spokesperson, it added.

As DIZO’s CEO and spokesperson, he will be responsible for all areas of operations including sales, marketing, Research & Development (R&D), supply chain, human resources, among others as well as the front-end for all official announcements by the brand, and he will attempt to position DIZO among the top brands in Artificial Internet of Things (AIoT) products category.

It has recently launched its first set of products, including wireless neckband earphones and TWS earbuds in the Indian market.

“I am excited to join the super energetic and promising team at DIZO in India. I am looking forward to driving business momentum at DIZO and make it one of India’s top brands in AIoT products… Together with Realme’s strong support and Flipkart’s pan-India reach, we are confident of being able to offer a world-class experience to our consumers,” said Abhilash Panda on leading the DIZO team in India.

“Today’s consumers are a discerning lot. They know their technology and are value-conscious and above all are ready to adopt solutions that make their lives easier. At DIZO it will be our mission to make this adoption easier for them,” Panda added.

Driven by demand amid pandemic, the Indian wearables market (earwear, wristband, and watch) grew strongly at 170.3 per cent on-year in 1Q21, shipping 11.4 million units, according to data from industry tracker International Data Corporation (IDC).

The watches category grew 463.8 per cent on-year in 1Q21 to become the fastest-growing category in wearables, while the wristwear category (wristbands and watches) grew 74.8 per cent on-year.

The earwear category too enjoyed a triple-digit growth of 209.3 per cent in 1Q21.

Notably, the Truly Wireless Stereo (TWS) category grew 284.4 per cent on-year with a 35.0 per cent share in the overall earwear category. It was led by boAt while OnePlus finished second, mainly supported by OnePlus Buds Z.