The launch of the Apple Watch in early 2015 sparked strong growth in the market for electronic devices worn on – or even in – the body. After having grown steadily but less than dramatically in previous years, the wearable technology market saw rapid expansion in 2015. According to the market experts at CSS Insight, smart watches alone generated sales revenues of 9 billion dollars in 2015. Smart watches have thus become the biggest revenue drivers on the wearables market. In terms of volumes sold, however, it is fitness trackers which lead the wearables field. CSS Insight reports that their sales volumes alone doubled between 2014 and 2015.
Market experts forecast overall sales of 245 million wearable devices – including smart watches, fitness trackers, augmented and virtual reality headsets and wearable action cams – by as early as 2019. By comparison, the 2015 figure was estimated at 84 million units. The overall wearable market is forecast to be worth $25 billion by 2019 – meaning it will have tripled in five years. And CSS Insight’s forecasts are on the cautious side: high-tech market research specialist Juniper Research even predicts that revenues from sales of wearable devices will hit $53 billion by 2019.
The market is currently still being driven primarily by the consumer sector, but wearables are also becoming increasingly important in industrial applications, in the defence sector, and above all in healthcare. It is not without reason that chip manufacturers have recently been investing heavily in the wearables market. As one example, Intel recently acquired Canadian company Recon Instruments, a manufacturer of smart glasses and head-up displays. Other market players such as Apple, Motorola, Google LG, Huawei and French company Archos have also recently entered the smart watch and activity tracker market.
China is becoming a particularly attractive market for the industry. According to CSS Insight, China’s fitness tracker market is set to double by 2018, making it twice the size of the US market, and even two-and-a-half times that of the European market. One of the reasons is the number of strong Chinese brand names in the sector, including Xiaomi, which markets the Mi bracelet. The wearables market offers lots of potential – for both long-established companies and for start-ups.
Wearable technology is taking off
