Wearables sales to triple despite user uncertainty

Juniper says sales of smartwatches and specs will surge, but adds note of caution

Global sales of so-called smart wearables will triple to generate $53bn (£33bn) in hardware terms by 2019, with watches and glasses driving growth.

That's a prediction from Juniper Research, which has just released its Smart Wearable Devices: Fitness, Glasses, Watches, Multimedia, Clothing, Jewellery, Healthcare & Enterprise 2014-2019 report on the emerging category.

Yet the market watcher adds more than a note of caution, despite its bullish estimate of five-year sales expansion.

"The research observed that consumers are still unsure about the use case for many wearable devices, including watches and glasses. In particular, consumers are hesitant to adopt wearable companion devices with functionality that is very similar to that of smartphones," Juniper added in its announcement.

Manufacturers too remain unsure - and the benefits may well lag behind volumes sold, it added.

Juniper believes that the launch of an Apple iWatch will galvanise the fledgeling sector, with other premium smartwatches and smartglasses - such as Google Glass - also leading the category.

"The recent entry of key industry players within the wearables sector has helped fuel an explosion of new devices ... [but] ... vendors still need to get over the ‘technology-first' attitude and think in terms of consumer benefits for increased product adoption," it said.

Many recent developments have come from start-ups and smaller players, while key names such as Google, Samsung and Intel are intensifying their promotion of specific platforms with a view to responding to device developments as they happen - rather than developing more of the devices themselves, Juniper noted.

"Meanwhile, Juniper anticipates that many of the more advanced technologies for wearables will be developed first for the enterprise and healthcare segments, which have clearer use cases," it added.

Juniper's full report - the third of its industry benchmark smart wearable device reports - examines different scenarios for wearables, lifestyle segments, and analyses the global market, split into eight regions, segment by segment.

It further divides the market into eight parts:

• sports and fitness wearables;
• multimedia and entertainment wearables;
• "lifestyle" wearables, including smart clothing or jewellery;
• smartwatches;
• smartglasses;
• enterprise wearables;
• healthcare wearables; and
• military wearables.