IDC wearables analysis: Fitbit continues to lead way amid alarming Apple decline

Picture credit: Fitbit

The latest figures from IDC show Fitbit continues to lead the way in global wearable device sales, but Apple slides alarmingly down the table.

According to the most recent Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker analysis, Fitbit sold 5.3 million units in Q316, up from 4.8m this time last year, while the company’s overall market share has risen to 23.0% from 2.14% in Q315.

This rise can partly be attributed to Apple’s relative demise. With 3.9m units shipped in the third...

By James Bourne, 07 December 2016, 0 comments. Categories: Devices, Research.

IDTechEx argues wearable tech market to exceed $30bn in 2016 and $150bn by 2026

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A three year research report from IDTechEx estimates that the global wearable technology market will be worth over $30 billion in 2016. The report says that the market will grow in three stages: 9% annually to over $40 billion in 2018, but then accelerating to 23% through to over $100 billion by 2023, before slowing to 10% to reach over $150 billion by 2026.

The report details IDTechEx's coverage of the wearable technology ecosystem, which looks at the industry from many different...

By Wearable Tech, 09 November 2016, 0 comments. Categories: Devices, Fitness, Health & Wellness, Research.

Yudiz, Brick Simple, and Moyeo Apps named in top 10 wearable app design firms

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A list of top 10 best wearable app design companies has been prepared by San Francisco-based 10 Best Design, with Yudiz, Brick Simple, and Moyeo Apps the top three winners for October.

The list is prepared each month by using a complex algorithm process that weighs the pros and cons of each firm against other contenders.

Yudiz, according to the research, is argued to be one of the best app development agencies in India that can develop wearable applications for any hardware. The company...

By Wearable Tech, 27 October 2016, 0 comments. Categories: Developers, Research, UI.

North America and Europe expected to lead wearable tech market until 2021

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A newly published report from Scalar Market Research has predicted the global wearable technology market to grow at a CAGR of 18.9% from $29.92 billion in 2016 to hit $71.23 billion by 2021.

The report is entitled ‘Wearable Technology Market by Products, Application – Global Revenue, Trends, Growth, Share, Size and Forecast to 2021’, and focuses on the entire ecosystem, from smart clothing and glasses, to augmented reality headsets, to industry verticals from fitness...

By Wearable Tech, 26 October 2016, 0 comments. Categories: Fitness, Health & Wellness, Research.

IDC notes smartwatch shipments decline more than 50% in Q316

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It had been prophesised, but now the chickens have truly come home to roost: latest figures from IDC show the smartwatch market has declined by 51.6% year over year.

The figures, released as part of IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker, showed 2.7 million units shipped globally in Q316, down from 5.6 million this time last year.

Apple remains top of the tree, although this does not tell the full story, with the Cupertino giant suffering almost the bulk of the...

By James Bourne, 24 October 2016, 0 comments. Categories: Research, Smartwatches.

Adopting fitness trackers in businesses saves $1,000 per employee

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Fitness trackers have the ability to save $1000 per employee based on the results of a study conducted by Springbuk. 

The study aimed to calculate the actual return investment of equipping staff with fitness trackers as part of their health and wellness programs, the findings offer a glimpse into how the wearables can not only improve the health of employees...

By Ryan Daws, 19 October 2016, 0 comments. Categories: Devices, Enterprise, Health Monitoring, Health & Wellness, Research, Workplace.

Apple Watch leads in smartwatch sector – but overall growth “slow”, argues Kantar

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The latest Kantar Worldpanel ComTech data on wearable device usage, as of July 2016, argues that while Apple still leads in smartwatch sales, overall sector growth is slow.

15.2% of US consumers own a smartwatch or fitness band, with the EU4 (France, Germany, Italy, UK), with an 8.1% penetration. Excluding fitness bands, adoption of smartwatches remains slow with 3.2% in EU4 and 4.7% in the US.

In the quarter ended July 2016, 47% of total wearable sales in the US were in the smartwatch...

By Wearable Tech, 23 September 2016, 0 comments. Categories: Devices, Research, Smartwatches.

Chinese wearable shipments ‘soar’: Xiaomi still on top but market lead reduced

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Shipments of wearable devices in China have soared with Xiaomi still at the top of the tree – but more and more competition is coming up fast, according to the latest figures from IDC.

IDC’s China Wearable Device Market Quarterly Tracker, 2016Q2 report shows that the country shipped 9.54 million wearable devices in Q2-FY2016, which was a 13.2% quarter by quarter and 81.4% year over year increase. Shipments of basic wearable devices such as wristbands, children’s...

By Wearable Tech, 19 September 2016, 0 comments. Categories: Devices, Research, Smartwatches.

Advanced wearables falter while basic wearables soar – as market climbs 26.1% in Q2

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The wearable market is growing admirably, with over 26 percent year-on-year growth, but this is being led by single-function wearables such as fitness trackers while advanced devices with third-party application support have stagnated. 

"Fitness is the low-hanging fruit for wearables," said Jitesh Ubrani, senior research analyst for IDC...

By Ryan Daws, 07 September 2016, 0 comments. Categories: Devices, Research, Smartwatches.

Smart glasses market to grow 141% in next four years

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A new report by market research firm Technavio has forecast that the global market for smart glasses will grow at CAGR of approximately 141% in 2016-2020.

The enterprises segment had the largest market share in terms of unit shipment and revenue in 2015, making up around 97% of the global market. Individual consumer shipments had a mere 2.77% market share.

The report indicates that the industry's focus remains on enterprises. Major vendors such as Microsoft, Sony, ODG, Epson,...

By Wearable Tech, 07 September 2016, 0 comments. Categories: Eyewear, Research.

This new graphene supercapacitor glimpses into the future of wearable technology

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A research team from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore has presented a new graphene-based supercapacitor at the 252nd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in Philadelphia.

The flexible micro-supercapacitors could trigger new developments in the realm of wearable technology, with a myriad of possibilities such as smart T-shirts that charges mobile phones or dishwashing robots, according to the researchers.

By Wearable Tech, 30 August 2016, 0 comments. Categories: Connectivity, Data & Analytics, Ecosystems, Research.

Nearly half of wearables in Germany remain unused, report finds

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Almost half of all Germans who own a fitness wearable device have either stopped using or do not use it, according to new research.

The 2016 DKV Report, titled 'How Healthy is Germany?', indicates that nearly 50% of those who use a fitness tracker have either stopped using it, or do not use it. A total of 2,830 Germans were surveyed by GfK Nuremburg for the report.

Clemens Muth, chairman of the board of management at DKV, said that most people in Germany do not see the...

By Wearable Tech, 25 August 2016, 0 comments. Categories: Devices, Fitness, Research.

New smart glasses study launched for ‘tech-infused frames’

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VSP Global and the University of Southern California (USC) Center for Body Computing (CBC) are partnering to launch an important academic study and consumer pilot test involving the company’s latest version of tech-embedded eyewear, Level, which is still in a prototype mode.

Developed by VSP Global’s innovation lab, The Shop, Level incorporates a gyroscope, accelerometer and magnetometer that helps a wearer...

By Wearable Tech, 24 August 2016, 0 comments. Categories: Ecosystems, Eyewear, Research.

Global wearable technology market to hit $171bn by 2025

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Insight Partners has published a new report which argues that the global wearable technology market is set to grow from $26.19 billion in 2015 to $170.91 billion in 2025, at a CAGR of 20.8%.

The smart watches segment was the largest in 2015 as the hand worn terminals product segment is anticipated to witness a CAGR of 24.4% between 2016 and 2025, the researchers argue.

Among the application segments, healthcare and medical boasted the largest share of the wearable technology market in...

By Wearable Tech, 18 August 2016, 1 comment. Categories: Devices, Ecosystems, Health Monitoring, Health & Wellness, Research.

Sports wearables require a greater focus on improvement advice

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When most people think of wearables, fitness trackers such as Fitbit come to mind. Whilst these devices are great for tracking your current performance to compare it to your past, they often don't offer advice on how to improve your ability in a chosen sport. 

New research from Lux has signaled the need for sports wearables that go beyond...

Garmin reports 5% year-on-year rise in revenue to $812m in Q216

Picture credit: Garmin

Garmin has announced its results for the second quarter ended June 25, 2016, with revenue growing 5% year-on-year to $812 million.

Gross margin expanded to 57.0% compared to 54.2% in the prior year quarter, and operating margin expanded to 24.7% compared to 21.5% in the prior year quarter. GAAP EPS grew 18% year-on-year to $0.85 while pro forma EPS grew 21% year-on-year to $0.87.

Cliff Pemble, president and chief executive officer of Garmin, said: “We achieved strong results in...

By Wearable Tech, 28 July 2016, 0 comments. Categories: Fitness, Health & Wellness, Research, Smartwatches.

Global smartwatch shipments see first ever quarterly decline, argues IDC

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Preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker revealed that global smartwatch shipments declined for the first time ever in the second quarter of 2016, falling 32% year-on-year to 3.5 million units.

Apple topped the market with its shipments totalling 1.6 million watches though it was the only vendor in the top 5 to witness an annual decrease in shipments. However, to put things into perspective, the year-on-year comparison is...

By Wearable Tech, 25 July 2016, 0 comments. Categories: Research, Smartwatches.

Shipments of cellular smart watches to reach 53.6 million by 2020

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Shipments of smart watches with cellular connectivity are set to see a compound annual growth rate of 63% in the period from 2016 to 2020, rising from 7.5 million units in 2016 to 53.6 million in 2020, as projected by Canalys. Over the near term, a new Apple Watch with cellular connectivity will be a primary driver of shipments.

Samsung and LG have been forcefully rolling out new cellular technologies in the market, with smart watches such as the Gear S2 classic 3G/4G and the Watch...

By Wearable Tech, 22 July 2016, 1 comment. Categories: Research, Smartwatches.

Apple tops smartwatch satisfaction while Samsung superior for fitness bands

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J.D. Power has released two reports on satisfaction in wearable tech; one focusing on smartwatches and the other on fitness bands. Apple topped the satisfaction survey for smartwatches while Samsung stood first in the fitness band category.

The reports ascertain overall satisfaction among customers who purchased the devices within the past 12 months. The reports also provided a breakdown on satisfaction across 11 factors.

For smartwatches, the foremost factors – in order of...

By Wearable Tech, 14 July 2016, 0 comments. Categories: Fitness, Health Monitoring, Health & Wellness, Research, Smartwatches.