The market for wearable tech continues to explode and find new niches. And, despite reports of “lacklustre” sales of the
The consumer wearables market include smart watches, glasses, fitness and health trackers, smart jewellery and others. And all of these devices are generating a tsunami of data, the implications of which we’re only beginning to understand.
In many respects, so-called “smart” devices have been available for decades including electronic wristwatches, car alarms, coordinated traffic lights and more. But Internet-connected objects bring a much greater prevalence of smart objects and much higher connectivity between them — resulting in smarter devices.
Here are 15 mind-boggling facts about wearables that everyone should be aware of:
- The wearables market exceeded $2 billion in 2015, will hit almost 3 billion this year and over 4 billion in 2017. (Source)
- Just under 50 million wearable devices were shipped in in 2015 and over 125 million units are expected to ship in 2019
- Employees equipped with wearable technology reported a 8.5% increase in productivity and a 3.5% increase in job satisfaction. (Source)
- Think
Google Glass is old news? Think again. The company is predicting sales of 21 million units by 2018. (Source) - One in six consumers currently own and use wearable tech. (Source)
- Most people who use wearable tech are young; 48% are between 18 and 34. (Source)
- And 71% of 16 to 24 year olds want wearable tech. (Source)
- 69% of men surveyed have a piece of wearable tech or want one, compared to 56% of women. (Source)
- Wearables owners are also more likely to be upper middle class and above. 29% of wearables owners make more than $100,000 a year. (Source)
- Growth in the wearables market is expected to increase 35% by 2019. (Source)
- Smartwatches will lead the wearables market. They accounted for 59% of wearable sales in 2015 and are estimated to grow to 70% of sales in 2019. (Source)
- Companies are beginning to test wearables in basic use cases like workplace security access (23%), employee time management (20%), and real-time employee communication (20%). (Source)
- Companies are also beginning to embrace “bring your own wearable” (BYOW) models with 54% currently supporting a BYOW model and an additional 40% planning to support this model in the future. (Source)
- Over 50 billion internet-connected devices will exist worldwide by 2020. (Source)
- 51% of people surveyed cited privacy as their biggest concern with wearable tech. (Source)
I believe we are just seeing the very beginnings of a revolution in innovative wearable tech products. It is now time that every business, no matter of what industry it is in, to consider the applications and potential benefits wearables could bring to their organization.
