A dream machine for the few… The limitations come from what people actually do with computers, as opposed to what the marketers expect them to do…. Somehow, the microcomputer industry has assumed that everyone would love to have a keyboard grafted on as an extension of their fingers. It just is not so.
Turns out this New York Times quote was printed not three months ago but thirty years ago, referring to the now-ubiquitous laptop computer. Most people probably don’t want keyboards grafted onto their fingers, but rampant mobile device sales do indicate a love of accessible technology. “We are in the Palm Pilot days for wearables,” said Stacey Burr of Adidas last March, before the release of the Apple Watch, suggesting that we’re at the beginning of what promises to be a much bigger wave.
Interest in the search term “wearable technology” over time, via Google Trends:
So, what’s the wearable technology forecast? Here are some predictions from industry analysts:
- 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 in 2015. [Business Insider]
- 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. [Business Insider]
- Vendors will ship a total of 45.7 million wearables in 2015, up 133.4% from the 19.6 million shipped in 2014. By 2019, total shipment volumes are forecast to reach 126.1 million, resulting in a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 45.1%. [IDC]
- Propelling the market higher in 2015 is an increased focus on smart wearables, or those devices capable of running third-party applications. These include devices like the Apple Watch, Motorola’s Moto 360, and Samsung’s Gear watches. The total volume of smart wearables will reach 25.7 million units in 2015, up a whopping 510.9% from the 4.2 million units shipped in 2014. [IDC]
- Wrist-worn wearables, including bands, bracelets, and watches, will account for more than 80% of all wearable device shipments throughout the forecast. [IDC]
- The global retail revenue from smart wearable devices will reach $53.2 billion by 2019. [Juniper Research]
