Overall shipments of devices from fitness trackers to smartwatches and headsets are expected to have hit 72.1 million by the end of December. And that, according to ABI Research’s latest quarterly tracking report, published Thursday, is a 173% jump on 2014.
“The demand for basic wearables, those that do not run third party apps, has been absolutely astounding,” said Jitesh Ubrani, an ABI senior research analyst. “Vendors like Fitbit and Xiaomi have helped propel the market with their sub-$100 bands, and IDC expects this momentum will continue throughout 2015.”
Basic wearables outperformed smarter devices by ratio of five to one over 2014, but the gap is beginning to close.
Now that companies like Apple have entered the market and devices like the Oculus Rift VR headset are getting ready for a consumer release, smart wearables will represent almost 60% of the market before the decade’s end; and annual shipments of all wearables are expected to have surpassed 155 million by 2019.
“Smart wearables like the Apple Watch and Microsoft’s Hololens are indicative of an upcoming change in computing, and the transition from basic to smart wearables opens up a slew of opportunities for vendors, app developers, and accessory makers,” said Ubrani.
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