Shipments of wearable devices are on track to more than double year-on-year in 2013, with fitness trackers topping the tables.
Research firm Berg Insight predicts shipments of devices including smart glasses, watches, and fitness units, will hit 8.3 million in 2013 compared to 3.1 million in 2012. The firm forecasts shipments will continue to grow at a CAGR of 50.6% through 2017, when the total will hit 64 million units.
Smart watches are tipped to dominate the market by the end of the forecast period, because they will incorporate most of the functions of other wearable devices by that point.
“A perfect storm of innovation within low power wireless connectivity, sensor technology, big data, cloud services, voice user interfaces and mobile computing power is coming together and paves the way for connected wearable technology,” says Johan Svanberg, senior analyst at Berg Insight.
While Svandberg expects wearable devices to break out from being smartphone accessories into functional units in their own right, he notes the units raise fresh privacy concerns.
“It is still uncertain where lines should be drawn, but as in the case with most new technology, individual users and solution providers have the responsibility not to misuse the capabilities enabled by wearable tech,” he notes.