Wearables have been having some growing pains. Major tech giants seem to have jumped the gun before the hardware was able to catch up to the initial design. As components get smaller and more efficient, the issues that people are having (such as the bad battery life or devices being too big) will quietly go away. In a new report from the IDC, their data shows shipments of wearable devices is on track to grow 15.1% in 2018. They also believe smartwatches will make up 2 out of every 5 (40%) wearable devices by the end of 2022.
The wearables market consists of more than just smartwatches. The IDC’s reports have the following categories: Smartwatches, Basic Watches, Basic Wristbands, Earwear, Clothing, and Other. Wear OS (formerly known as Android Wear) has created a divide within the Android community. Some were immediate to jump on board while others didn’t see the appeal. Those who have tried it either continue to swear by the technology or have gotten bored with the platform as it has stagnated the last year or so.
Apple has had steady momentum with the Apple Watch as they account for over half of all smartwatches shipped in 2017. However, the data shows that competing products from the likes of Fitbit, Garmin, and all the Wear OS OEMs are continuing to gain traction. Earwear is another rising star in the wearable industry, which IDC expects companies to ship 13.3 million units by the end of 2022 with a 48.0% CAGR from 2018 – 2022. This growth is being aided by the rise of smart voice-enabled assistants, hardware developments from Qualcomm, and the growing popularity of wireless headphones.
Another category that IDC expects to see a lot of growth between 2018 and 2022 is the sensor-laden clothing segment. The IDC expects these products to ship 4.1 million units throughout 2018 with an increase of up to 11.6 million by the end of 2022. This gives the category a 30.0% CAGR from 2018 to 2022 which IDC feels will be led by step-counting shoes from companies such as Li-Ning or Under Armour. However, this will also include other, more innovative products like we saw last year with the Jacquard by Google jacket.
Source: IDC Via: Android Authority
0 comments:
Post a Comment