BI Intelligence
The evolution of wearables.
The above timeline shows how wearables have advanced from being rudimentary wristbands or clunky watches, to more elaborately designed devices, including full-featured bands and high-end time pieces.
In a recent report on the wearable computing market from BI Intelligence, we also look at how the wearables market will perform in the long run. We forecast out shipments numbers, explain why the smartwatch will be the leading wearable device category going forward, and analyze more proprietary results from our BI Intelligence consumer survey on smartwatch purchase intent.
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Here are some key points from the report:
- Wearables will see plenty of growth. We estimate the global wearables market will grow at a compound annual rate of 35% over the next five years, reaching 148 million units shipped annually in 2019, up from 33 million units shipped this year.
- The smartwatch will be the leading product category and take an increasingly large share of wearable shipments. We estimate smartwatch shipments will rise by a compound annual rate of 41% over the next five years. Smartwatches will account for 59% of total wearable device shipments this year, and that share will expand to just over 70% of shipments by 2019.
- The Apple Watch will kick-start growth in the overall smartwatch market.
- Fitness bands and miscellaneous wearable device types, like smart eyewear, will continue to cater to niche audiences. Fitness bands, because of their appeal to niche audiences interested in health and exercise, will see their share of the wearable device market contract to a 20% share in 2019, down from 36% this year. There will be some blur between fitness bands and smartwatches.
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