According to IDC, the overall wearables market is expected grow after a brief slowdown last year, which was brought about by delayed launches and vendors struggling to maintain pace.
IDC forecasts that new vendors, new form factors, and an increase in the number of retail outlets will drive worldwide wearable device shipments from 102.4 million in 2016 to 237.5 million in 2021, which represents a five-year compound annual growth rate of 18.3%.
Earworn devices are forecast for growth due to new startups and traditional headphone companies incorporate additional features. Volumes will remain modest as the health and fitness tracking “hearables” tend to overlap with the more popular wrist worn devices.
IDC expects watches to hyper-segment into specific niches, including connected kids’ watches, athletic watches, luxury and fashion watches, and lifestyle watches that address particular segment needs. Clothing can also be designed to track athletic performance or to track vital information and to communicate. Similarly, companies are adding fitness tracking and smart coaching to earwear, while others are focusing on enhancing audio or providing real-time language translation. So, the wearable is not a “one-size fits all” approach but instead concentrates on specific solutions for specific situations.
