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Q3
Wearables
Market
Up 40%
Year-On-Year:
Futuresource
Consulting
By Andy
Watson-Futuresource/Tell
Us USA
BOSTON,
MA (Tell
Us SA) -
Consumer
demand
for
wearable
technology
is
rising
fast,
with Q3
global
shipments
totaling
12.7
million
units,
up 40%
from
just
over
nine
million
units in
Q3 2013,
according
to the
latest
quarterly
research
from
Futuresource
Consulting.
"The
wearables
market
is
definitely
one to
watch,
with our
forecasts
predicting
sales of
52
million
units
across
all
wearable
categories
this
year, up
32% from
2013,"
says
Oliver
Rowntree,
Market
Analyst
at
Futuresource
Consulting.
"Q4 is
where
we're
going to
see all
the
action,
with
annual
sales
heavily
weighted
towards
the
pre-Christmas
period.
We're
expecting
39% of
this
year's
activity
to drop
into Q4,
as
wearable
tech
provides
an
appealing
gifting
option
for
consumers.
Looking
out even
further,
we're
anticipating
further
acceleration
in the
pace of
growth
in 2015
as
smartwatches
become
more
widely
adopted,
with a
44%
growth
rate
driving
the
market
to 74
million
units
shipped
next
year."
The
wearables
category
incorporates
a number
of
product
areas
with
varying
degrees
of
maturity,
which
have
very
different
market
forces
acting
on them.
While
Futuresource
anticipates
significant
growth
in the
category
overall,
this is
not the
case for
every
wearable
product.
"The
brand
landscape
continues
to be
dominated
by
fitness
companies,
due to
the
relative
size of
the
fitness
market
within
wearables,"
says
Rowntree.
"Fitbit
has
effectively
consolidated
its
significant
lead in
activity
trackers,
despite
the
entrance
of
larger
CE
competitors.
Samsung
comfortably
leads in
the
nascent
smartwatch
market
and
Garmin
retains
a strong
lead in
the
traditional
fitness
category."
Futuresource
expects
the
growth
outlook
for
traditional
fitness
to be
considerably
less
aggressive
than for
emerging
categories
such as
activity
trackers
and
smartwatches,
with
pedometers
in
particular
seeing
rapid
decline.
"We
expect
connected
watches
-
incorporating
smartwatches
and
wireless
watches
- to
experience
extremely
strong
growth
over the
forecast
period,
reaching
83
million
unit
shipments
in total
by
2018,"
says
Rowntree.
Futuresource
expects
Apple to
have a
significant
impact
upon the
connected
watch
market
with its
entry in
2015.
The
Apple
Watch is
well-positioned
to
capitalise
on
Apple's
premium
brand
positioning,
and its
aesthetic
is in
line
with the
level
that
might be
expected
for
wearable
technology
to be
worn as
jewellery
as well
as
technology.
"Longer-term
growth
is
dependent
upon how
compelling
a use
case
emerges
for
existing
wearable
products.
While we
have an
optimistic
view of
the
wearable
market,
there
remain
some
uncertainties
around
the
usage
models
for
wearables,
and
whether
a
compelling
raison
d'étre
for the
category
will
develop,"
says
Rowntree.
This
30-page
report
highlights
key
market
trends
at the
regional
and
country
level,
while an
accompanying
spreadsheet
contains
detailed
annual
data and
market
forecasts
for the
key
countries.
If you
would
like any
further
information
about
this
report
or the
wearable
tracking
service,
please
get in
contact
with
Andy
Watson
via
andy.watson@futuresource-hq.com
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