CCS Insight: Smartwatch market to double over next four years

43 million smartwatches are predicted to be shipped in 2017

The smartwatch market will be valued at £13.8 billion, shipping 83 million units by 2021 according to the latest forecasts.

The current market is worth just over £8 billion. This estimate was made by CCS Insight today, stating the Apple Watch has been the “trailblazer for this category”, prompting traditional watch makers to enter the smartwatch market, such as: Fossil, Guess Watches and Tag Heuer.

Performance fitness watches from Garmin, TomTom, Polar and Suunto are seeing steady growth while delivering consistent sales volumes over the past few years.

CCS Insight wearables analyst George Jijiashvili said: “It’s clear that companies like Apple and Samsung have recognised the success of performance fitness watches and have implemented more and more fitness features into their own smartwatches to broaden their appeal.

“There’s currently an air of cautious optimism among smartwatch makers, especially as sales of fitness bands appear to have stalled”.

Upgrades

Nine per cent of new smartwatches are expected to have stand-alone mobile data capabilities in 2017, with the next iteration of the Apple Watch to kick off the trend. That figure is expected to rise to 12 per cent by 2021.

Kidstarter

Smartwatches designed for parents to track their children has been primarily a Chinese phenomenon at present, with 16 million units shipped in 2016 alone. CCS claim shipments will rise to 25 million by 2021. Huawei, LeEco, and ZTE are a few that cater to this segment.

The overall wearables market has hit new heights shipping 102.4 million units in 2016, a 25 per cent annual increase, according to IDC.

The post CCS Insight: Smartwatch market to double over next four years appeared first on Mobile News Online.

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