The market for wearable devices is experiencing a period of heady growth, thus far driven primarily by consumer adoption of fitness trackers, but with smart watches catching up fast and expected to eclipse fitness tracker unit volumes by the end of 2015.
According to a recent report from Tractica, wearables adoption among consumers and business users alike will continue to climb over the next several years, and the market intelligence firm forecasts that cumulative wearable device shipments will reach 750 million units during the period from 2013 to 2020.
However, despite the rise of smart watches as the leading wearables category, the total market is much more diverse than smart watches, which Tractica anticipates will constitute just 45% of total device shipments during the years leading up to 2020. Fitness trackers will remain a viable segment of the market, and other device categories will also play an increasingly important role in market development. Tractica forecasts that, over the next several years, the breakdown of wearable shipments by device category will be as follows:
- Smart Watches: 45%
- Fitness Trackers: 30%
- Wearable Cameras: 15%
- Smart Clothing and Body Sensors: 6%
- Smart Augmented Reality Glasses: 2%
- Other Wearables: 2%
Tractica’s report, “Wearable Device Market Forecasts”, examines global market trends for wearable devices and presents 7-year market sizing and forecasts for device shipments and revenues during the period from 2013 through 2020. The comprehensive market model is segmented by device category, including smart watches, fitness trackers, smart glasses, smart clothing, body sensors, wearable cameras, and other wearables such as location trackers, smart jewelry, and gesture control devices. An Executive Summary of the report is available for free download on the firm’s website.
