Digital Lifescapes

The wearable technology sector growth was largely a story about the smartwatch: a premium product anchored around a single wrist, sold at a steep price, and adopted primarily by the health-conscious and the tech-savvy. That narrative is now changing in ways that are genuinely interesting to anyone tracking the intersection of Applied-AI, consumer electronics, digital health, and connectivity infrastructure. The latest worldwide market study by ABI Research offers a timely and data-rich window into just how fast that transformation is unfolding. Wearables Market Development Wearable device shipments are projected to grow from 402.96 million in 2026 to 544.08 million by 2031, as vendors broaden access to advanced health, fitness, and connectivity features at more affordable price points. That is not incremental growth; it represents a meaningful expansion of who is wearing smart technology and why. Equally compelling is the revenue picture: the category is expected to generate $44.22 bil...

The modern wearables market began in the 1960s with the development of calculator watches and other electronic devices that could be worn on the body. The market has grown, driven by the increasing popularity of fitness trackers, smartwatches, and other devices that can track our health and fitness, provide notifications, and control our smart home devices. Wearable device demand growth declined to 14.6 percent in 2022 from 27.7 percent year-over-year in 2021 due to the economic slowdown and reduced spending after the peak of the COVID pandemic. Wearables Market Development This trend persisted in the first half of 2023, as longer replacement cycles and a lack of compelling features suppressed demand. The overall wearables market will rebound, reaching 689.33 million shipments by the end of 2028, with a CAGR of 11.3 percent between 2023 and 2028, according to the latest study by ABI Research. In 2023, the wearable market is projected to grow by approximately 10.2 percent, with shipment...

Wearable technology adoption has reached a turning point in developed markets across the globe. Berg Insight released its latest findings of the connected wearables market. Shipments of connected wearables reached 116.8 million worldwide in 2018. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.4 percent, total shipments of smartwatches, smart glasses, fitness & activity trackers, smart clothing, mobile telecare and medical devices as well as other wearable devices are forecasted to reach 238.5 million units in 2023. Wearable Device Market Development Bluetooth will remain the primary connectivity option in the coming years. A total of 67.7 million of the wearables sold in 2023 are forecast to incorporate embedded cellular connectivity, mainly in the smartwatch and telecare or medical device categories. The connected fitness & activity tracker segment is led by Chinese Xiaomi, which has been successful with its Mi Band fitness tracker. Fitbit is still among the lar...

Adoption of mobile internet access, combined with the development of innovative cloud services and wearable devices, has created a multitude of new consumer and business use cases that will drive demand, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Global shipments of wearable devices are forecast to reach 125.3 million units in 2018 -- that's up 8.5 percent from 2017. The growing popularity of smartwatches and greater wearables adoption in emerging markets will combine to produce a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11 percent with shipments jumping to 189.9 million units in 2022. Wearables Market Development "The transition from basic wearables to smart wearables will continue over the next five years as the two approach parity in terms of market share by 2022," said Jitesh Ubrani, senior research analyst at IDC . "The rise of smart wearables will not just be in mature markets, but also from emerging mar...

When the smartwatch market came into being, most industry analysts assumed that Apple would dominate the new category. Now it seems that Google Android will likely lead the market, via its extensive open ecosystem of software developers. While the number of high-end smartwatches is faltering, hybrid watches remain largely unaffected by the market slow-down, according to the latest market study by Juniper Research. These watches have traditional watch faces but offer some connected functions -- such as tracking the user's steps or enabling NFC payments -- and claim a larger portion of the market than previously anticipated. Smartwatch Market Development Trends While basic smartwatches account for around 30 percent the current market value, Juniper anticipates that this share will grow to almost 40 percent within the next five years. The new research findings anticipate that as the high-end multi-functional smartwatch market slows, vendors will refine or remove unpopular fu...

When a consumer electronics vendor launches a new product category they are often uncertain about the overall market demand. While early-adopters may adopt the new device relatively quickly, the mainstream user market is far less likely to be interested or motivated to buy. Sometimes the leading vendor in a category will abruptly reach market saturation, as a key indicator of the future outlook. For the first time, the worldwide smart watch market saw a year-over-year decline of 32 percent, according to the latest global market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Smartwatch vendors shipped 3.5 million units in the second quarter of 2016 (2Q16), which was down substantially from the 5.1 million shipped a year ago. Apple held the top rank by shipping 1.6 million watches. However, it was the only vendor among the top five to experience an annual decline in shipments. Smartwatch Market Development Challenges The year-over-year comparison is to the initial launch quart...

Wearable Technology development is focused any electronic products that are designed to be worn on the person. Over the last couple of years, vendors in the market for wearable devices have moved beyond the initial hype to describe practical uses that are enabled by software apps. With the core wearable technology sectors now beginning to mature, IDTechEx has released their latest analysis of this diverse and growing industry in their "Wearable Technology 2016-2026" report. Their latest worldwide study finds the market to be worth over $30 billion in 2016, with over $11 billion of that coming from newly popular products -- including smartwatches and fitness trackers. Wearables Market Development Opportunities However, despite the total market growing to over $150 billion by 2026, IDTechEx forecasts a pending shake-up in several prominent sectors -- with some commoditization impacting pricing and product form factors adapting to nascent opportunities. The IDTechEx m...

More people are wearing new personal activity tracking devices. According to the latest market study by The NPD Group, annual 2015 unit sales of connected activity trackers experienced impressive growth of 85 percent versus 2014 -- that's despite a hike in the average selling price (ASP) from $96 to $109. "The increase in ASP speaks to these devices becoming more sophisticated, and that consumers are looking for better-quality devices, not just entry-level products," said Ben Arnold, executive director at The NPD Group . "This, combined with unit growth, shows that prices aren't falling to drive demand -- demand is increasing along with rising prices." Fitbit remained the leading brand in connected activity trackers in 2015, accounting for 79 percent of sales. The company has been the market leader in connected activity trackers since 2014, growing market share by more than 20 points since that time -- despite the entrance of new competing products in th...

Smart watches will drive the wearable device growth trend in 2016. The Apple watchOS will continue to lead the smartwatch market, with a growing software application selection. While there's already demand for design improvement and more features, there's also momentum to keep it ahead of the rest of the market. The overall worldwide wearable device market will reach a total of 111.1 million units shipped in 2016 -- that's up by 44.4 percent from the 80 million units expected to ship in 2015. By 2019, total shipments will reach 214.6 million units, resulting in a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28 percent, according to the latest global market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). "The most common type of wearables today are fairly basic, like fitness trackers, but over the next few years we expect a proliferation of form factors and device types," said Jitesh Ubrani , senior research analyst at IDC . Smart Wearables Market Develop...

Shipments of connected wearables reached 72.5 million in 2015, that's up from 25.3 million devices in the previous year, according to the latest worldwide market study by Berg Insight. Many of these devices have become a significant part of the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) phenomena. Increasing by a compound annual growth rate of 25.8 percent, total global shipments of smartwatches, smart glasses, fitness & activity trackers, people monitoring & safety devices and medical devices as well as other wearable devices are forecasted to reach 228.3 million units in 2020. Moreover, Bluetooth will remain the primary M2M wireless connectivity option in the coming years. However, a total of 17.8 million of the wearables sold in 2020 are forecasted to incorporate embedded cellular connectivity, mainly in the smartwatch and people monitoring & safety categories. Apple entered the connected wearables market in Q2-2015 and quickly became the leading smartwatch vendor. The ...

The Internet of Things ( IoT ) enables the potential for many new categories of connected devices. In the near term, smart wearables will likely be first to disrupt the consumer electronics landscape, as mind-share and eventually revenue shift from PCs and smartphones to these new devices. Connected device competition will intensify as vendors compete for the nearly $74 billion in new revenue that will be available by 2020, with smart watches accounting for more than $50 billion in revenue, according to the latest market study by Technology Business Research (TBR). "Most wearables require a mobile device, PC or both for users to gain the most functionality, helping keep PCs and smartphones in the purchasing conversation, especially in consumer markets," said Jack Narcotta, analyst at TBR . However, as component and chip makers -- such as Intel, Samsung and Qualcomm -- innovate in areas like processors, displays and batteries, smart wearables will become more advanced an...

Over the last 18 months, the wearables market has started to mature and has grown considerably with new players introducing numerous products -- such as fitness bands, smartwatches, smart glasses, and other sensor-enabled devices. Using data compiled from approximately 328,000 consumer reviews since January 2014, the latest market study by Argus Insights reveals that after the holiday season of 2013, consumers briefly lost interest in wearables before steadily increasing demand reached its high point in January 2015 where it was four times the level of a year earlier. Since then, however, demand has slowed. According to the report, all the media buzz about the Apple Watch introduction stole consumer interest away from Fitbit and other wearables, as potential buyers waited to determine whether they wanted the Apple Watch. Interest in Fitbit devices resumed and grew once the Apple Watch details were announced, as Fitbit and other wearable manufacturers saw a strong 2014 holiday p...

The emerging applications for IoT sensors that are designed to be worn will become vast. The wearable technology market is forecast to rise from $24.2 billion in 2015 to three times that size in ten years -- creating a market of $74 billion in 2025, according to the latest market study by IDTechEx Research . In addition to increasing demand for current enabling components and software, this market provides a large opportunity for new technologies as electronics move from being bulky devices to ones that can conform to the wearer. As the traditional markets for consumer electronics devices begin to saturate, new markets are being explored and foremost among them is the evolution of smart wearable technology. However, smart wearable gadgets thus far are mixed in terms of their success, consisting usually of bulky electronics with many limitations; power consuption being one of them. About $1 billion was invested in wearables during 2014. According to the IDTechEx assessment, this...

Juniper Research believes that the next-generation smartphone -- enabled by an associated software application -- is set to become a means of linking external Smart Wireless Devices to the mobile cloud. These smartphones will form a central point for a Wireless Personal Area Network, thereby connecting to a wide range of peripheral software apps, web-based portals or cloud-based services. Put simply, a smart wireless device is a stand-alone piece of hardware which can link to a nearby smartphone, often via a short-range wireless technology such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. The device will typically have a companion app, which will add value to the data received from the hardware device. In addition, data from the device may be uploaded to an online site for data analysis. Juniper has unveiled their list of recent smart technology developments that they believe will positively impact the smart wireless devices sector during 2015. The Apple Watch launch is a potential game-changer. Not...

Ever since the first clickable banner ad was produced in 1993, advertising on digital platforms has evolved. The growth in digital advertising has been aided by several improvements, such as programmatic media and big data. The potential for targeted, personalized advertising -- enabled by new mobile device adoption -- is a key area of interest for digital marketers. Advertising spend on smart watches will reach $68.6 million by 2019, that's up from an estimated $1.5 million this year, according to the latest market study by Juniper Research . The study found that market growth will be fueled by the entrance of high-profile brands, such as Apple, into the smart watch arena, combined with the ongoing mainstream acceptance of wearable technology. Juniper believes that the emergence of an additional mobile screen would stimulate interest among advertisers. However, until a significant user base is reached, most ad-spend is likely to take the form of ad-hoc marketing campaigns. ...

Wearable technology is about to evolve. The explosion of wearable devices was originally led by fitness bands. However, a combination of new vendors, new devices, and greater end-user awareness will now drive the worldwide wearables market higher in 2015. Vendors will ship a total of 45.7 million units in 2015, up a strong 133.4 percent from the 19.6 million units shipped in 2014, According to the latest global market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). By 2019, total shipment volumes are forecast to reach 126.1 million units, resulting in a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 45.1 percent. Propelling the market higher in 2015 is an increased focus on smart wearables, or those devices capable of running third-party applications. These include devices like the Apple Watch, the Motorola Moto 360, and the Samsung Gear watches. The total volume of smart wearables will reach 25.7 million units in 2015 -- that's up by 510.9 percent from the 4.2 million unit...

Wearable technology research and development has gained momentum during the last two years. Once compelling use cases become established, wearable devices will become a significant new product category in consumer electronics. Fitness trackers have been in use for several years, and are still the most widely used wearable devices. Although they have an uncertain future, with the challenge from multi-functional smart watches, trackers can carve out their own niche by appealing to different markets and consumer needs. According to the latest market study by Juniper Research , fitness wearables in-use will almost treble by 2018, compared to an estimated 19 million in-use devices during 2014. Juniper believes that fitness will remain the dominant wearables segment until that time, driven by intuitive software applications (apps) and lower retail prices. However, the broader appeal of smart watches will mean that they will be used more frequently in later years. Their study findings...

According to the latest market study by Canalys, nearly 5 million smart and basic wearable bands shipped in Q3 2014, with total unit shipments increasing 37 percent quarter on quarter. Furthermore, the Moto 360 was the most successful of the initial Google Android Wear devices, accounting for over 15 percent of the smart band market. Despite being supply-constrained, its appealing design helped it to easily out-ship other products. LG has responded by quickly adopting a circular display with the G Watch R. Meanwhile, Samsung remained the overall smart band market leader. They have already begun to experiment with larger display sizes and cellular connectivity with the Gear S. Canalys believes that Android Wear will be key to the development of the market, as it is poised to be one of the two dominant wearable operating systems, alongside the Apple Watch OS. That said, Canalys says Google will need to redesign the Android Wear user interface. "The announcement of the App...

A Smart Watch can be defined as a smart wearable accessory that can be worn on a user's wrist, offering a range of smart functionality in conjunction with an external platform -- such as the smartphone or media tablet. The smart capabilities can range from displaying phone call, text and email alerts to accessing stock and weather information or any fitness, sports or commerce applications -- such as heart rate monitoring, payments or ticketing. Juniper Research has forecast that more than 100 million smart watches will be in use worldwide by 2019, with a host of premium brand launches over the next 12-18 months bringing the category into mainstream consumer consciousness. According to the findings from the latest Juniper market study, differentiation is now shifting from hardware towards other features that allow new capabilities, such as GPS and NFC connectivity. It argues that the functionality is likely to become standard in the next few years, particularly as Apple ha...

Wearable devices have exploded into the consumer electronics scene during the last two years. As the use-cases become established, they will become pervasive -- moving beyond the early-adopter stage of market development. The upside potential varies considerably, depending on the market segment and purpose of the wearable device. From a conceptual vista of broad electronic possibilities, the current reality of wearables is one of increasingly niche devices. According to the latest market study by Juniper Research , global smart wearable device shipments will more than quadruple by 2017, reaching 116 million units, compared to an estimated 27 million in 2014. This still suggests that less than 5 percent of smartphones will be used with such wearables by this time. Findings from the extensive Juniper study asserts that with technological barriers coming down, larger vendors in the market are moving beyond devices to produce software operating systems and data-banks to manage the...