Wearables sales to explode, predicts analyst

Juniper Research claims market will expand threefold in next two years

A new report by Juniper Research predicts the smart wearable devices market will treble in two years, before reaching a global worth of $53.2bn (€41.07bn) by 2019.

The research comes a week after Apple unveiled the Apple Watch, which will be available early next year, and is expected by analysts to dominate the market next year.

According to Juniper, this projected growth of the market will be driven by an increase in sales of premium smartwatches and smart glasses over the next five years.

Juniper's report states that the recent entry of key industry players within the wearables sector has fuelled an "explosion of new devices" in this increasingly crowded market.

But the report maintains that vendors need to get over the "technology first" attitude and think in terms of consumer benefit.

Juniper predicts that the more advanced wearable technologies will be driven by enterprise and healthcare segments.

The report also found that smartwatches will replace fitness wearables as the most-purchased wearables category by 2017.