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29 Wearable Technology Industry Statistics, Trends & AnalysisWearable technology is an industry which produces tech items that are intendedto be worn. These devices are usually equipped with smart sensors which arethen connected to the Internet to create a data exchange. It is an industrythat is relatively new since the first Bluetooth headset was sold in 2000.Since then, more than 325 million wearable devices have been activated aroundthe world.By 2020, there could be more than 830 million devices active because of thisindustry. Smartwatches are the primary product that consumers purchase by techproducers, accounting for 52% of the global market. There are roughly 80million shipments of basic wearables around the world to consider as well,along with another 119 million in wristwear tech to consider.Although there are practical applications for the average person to enjoyusing wearable technologies, medical and military professionals have usedideas from this industry for several decades. Leading vendors in this spaceinclude Apple, Lenovo, Garmin, Samsung, and Pebble. Fitbit has held a 45%market share for their segment in 2014, but disruptors have cause that figureto drop to 20%.### Important Wearable Technology Industry Statistics#1. Revenues earned in the wearables segment totaled $3.09 billion in 2018,which was a 5.3% increase over the year before for the U.S. market. There arecurrently 38.8 million people who purchased at least one product manufacturedby the industry during the last 12 months, which is a 1.1% increase from theyear before. (Statista)#2. The user penetration rate for the wearables market in the United Stateswas 11.8% in 2018, which is a figure that is expected to go down in the nextfive years as the current consumers are expected to purchase multipleproducts. (Statista)#3. Consumers who decide to purchase wearable tech typically spend $79.75 onthe item they buy. (Statista)#4. China earned $4.5 billion in revenues for the global wearable technologyindustry in 2018. (Statista)#5. Consumers are twice as likely to be aware of the Apple Watch and itsfeatures when compared to rival products in that segment of the wearable techindustry. (CCS Insights)#6. Over 16 million Apple Watches were sold in 2017 from its expanding productlines in this field, which is a figure that represents 60% growth from thesales earned in 2016. (CCS Insights)#7. Wearables for children are a lucrative market in China, where over 25million units were sold in 2017. That trend has not reached the United States,where only 1 million products were sold to parents for the specific use bytheir kids. (CCS Insights)#8. Regulatory issues and privacy concerns about data generation in use inEurope cut the children’s wearables market there to only a few thousand unitsbeing sold in 2017. (CCS Insights)#9. Fewer than 5 million units were shipped in 2017 for the Android Wearplatform produced by Google, which indicates the brand is shifting to morepopular product lines like Google Home and their Pixel smartphones instead ofsticking with their wearables division. (Forbes)#10. The overall ASP of the smartwatch category for the industry reached$223.25 in 2017. That figure is expected to fall to $214.99 because highervolumes will lead to slight reductions in component and manufacturing costs.The average selling price for the category is boosted by Apple, which has anentry-level point of $269. (Gartner)#11. Bluetooth components remain a significant segment for the wearabletechnology industry, making up 48% of all the products sold in 2017. More than206 million of these components are expected to be sold in 2021 thanks to ashift in using wireless devices (like AirPods) with mobile products instead ofa wired jacked. (Gartner)#12. Shipments of smartwatches are expected to total 74 million units in 2019,with a total increase in all products to rise by 25.8% when compared to theyear before. (Gartner)#13. There were 19 million head-mounted display units sold by the wearabletechnology industry in 2017, making it the third-largest category behindsmartwatches and wristbands. (Gartner)#14. Only 4.12 million shipments of wearable smart clothing occurred in 2017,making it a small, but growing segment for the industry to consider as itsother segment continue the maturation process. (Gartner)#15. 40% of users who purchase products from the wearable technology industrysay that they feel naked when they’re not wearing their device. 1 in 4consumers admits that they even sleep with the product on throughout thenight. (Ericsson)#16. 70% of wearables users perceive that the manufacturers in the industryare “very serious” about protecting their data. Users are more trusting oftheir brands with this information than they are with insurance companies,internet providers, and even doctors. (Ericsson)#17. 43% of wearables users say that they believe smartphones will one day bereplaced with technologies offered by the industry. 40% of those who own asmartwatch say that they already spend less time on their phones, treating itas more of a secondary screen. (Ericsson)#18. 60% of smartphone users say that they believe wearable tech will havenumerous uses that go beyond the health and wellness category by 2020.(Ericsson)#19. 25% of people who say that they purchased a wearable device within thepast 90 days have not had their expectations met by the product. (Ericsson)#20. 74% of people believe that using multiple sensors and wearables will makeit easier to interact with items that are around them. Over 30% of industryconsumers today expect that they will be wearing at least five products by theend of 2020. (Ericsson)#21. Although women are more likely to own fitness trackers when considering aproduct from the wearable tech industry, 63% of smartwatch owners arecurrently men. (Ericsson)#22. 83% of smartphone users today say that they expect wearable technology tooffer some form of standalone connectivity. 40% of owners say that they prefereither cellular or Wi-Fi as this primary option with built-in functioning forit. (Ericsson)#23. 32% of consumers who purchase wearable technology use it for health andclinical reasons, including fitness use. 24% say that they wear the devicesbecause it’s a tech innovation. Only 13% of users say that they wear thedevice for its experiences, such as payment, safety monitoring, or automaticconnectivity. (Quid)#24. The popularity of fitness bands and smartwatches in Britain rose by 18%in 2017, creating sales that topped 4 million devices for the first time.Smartwatches were up 23% during this period. (Mintel)#25. The ownership of smartwatches in Britain during 2014 was just 2% of theoverall population. That level reached 9% in 2017, while the ownership offitness bands increased to 16%. (Mintel)#26. 1 in 3 people say that the overall merits of using wearable technologywill make their lives better in some way. (Mintel)#27. About 20% of the people who are interested in purchasing a wearabledevice in the next 12 months are interested in how it can help them access thesmart technologies of their home. (Mintel)#28. 38% of parents which children under the age of 16 say that they areinterested in the technology of wearables because it can help them track andmonitor their kids, including sleep and location monitoring. (Mintel)#29. Roughly 30% of consumers say that they support the idea of leaving asmartphone at home if their smartwatch could offer the same functionality,including messaging, calls, music, and data access. 40% of those in the 25-34age demographic support this option, which leads all other age-basedcategories. (Mintel)### Wearable Technology Industry Trends and AnalysisAlthough there were some people who were quick to label the Apple Watch as afailure when it was first introduced to the wearable technology industry, the$1 billion in revenue it earned per quarter for its initial sales changedplenty of minds. Look for continued competition to develop in the watch andfitness tracker segments as they continue to hold at least half of the overallmarket through 2029.In the next 10-year period, the market for wearables in China could reachthree times that of what it is currently in the United States. Western Europeshould see a similar level of consumer interest compared to the Americamarket.Most products that are manufactured for the wearable tech industry will seeslow and steady gains as the next generation of each product come to themarket. There may be some failures along the way (think Google Glass), but itwill see continued interest and user penetration rates from a globalperspective. The one disruptor for this field is the wearable cameras, such asGoPro, which could expand or contract based on the strength of the overalleconomic picture and consumer interest in outdoor activities.Those with broad distribution, large-scale production, and robust brandingwill see the most significant success is the next ten years.