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Shipments of wearable devices across the globe are expected to see a 38.2% year on year increase and reach 110 million by the end of 2016, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker. The market will grow on account of the pervasiveness of new and different wearable products. However, the main focus of the wearables market will continue to be smartwatches.

The combined total of watch and wristband shipments will increase from 72.2 million in 2015 to 100 million shipments in 2016. Other types of wearables such as clothing, eyewear, and hearables, are expected to reach 9.8 million units in 2016 and will ensure an increase in market share of over 100% by 2020. As a result, an expanding range of vendors coupled by a rapid rise in consumer awareness and demand will bring about double-digit growth throughout the 2015-2020 forecast period, resulting in shipments of 237.1 million wearable devices in 2020.

Jitesh Ubrani, senior research analyst for IDC Mobile Device Trackers, said: “Although smartwatches like the Apple Watch or Android Wear devices capture the spotlight, they will only account for a quarter of all wearables in 2016 and will grow to about a third by 2020. It's time to start thinking about smarter watches – traditional watches with some sort of fitness or sleep tracking but are unable to run apps—built by classic watch makers. These devices have the potential of making the technology invisible while still integrating themselves within day-to-day activities.”

Ubrani added: “By creating smarter watches, vendors also stand to side-step some of the typical challenges that smartwatch platforms face. There's no need to create a developer or app ecosystem for one thing, and there's plenty of room for simpler devices that appeal to the average user while smartwatches continue catering to the technophiles.”

 

 

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