Wearables market lifted by Covid pandemic

Pandemic prompts spending boom on smartwatches, ear-worn devices and other wearables, Gartner figures show

The pandemic appears to have breathed new life into the wearables market, according to Gartner, whose numbers show an 18 per cent hike in sales of smart watches, smart clothing and other devices worn on the body in 2020.

Global wearables sales hit $69bn in 2020, and are expected to vault to $81.5bn in 2021 before hitting $93.9bn in 2022, the market watcher said.

It chalked up the rise partly to the remote working boom, alongside heightened interest in health monitoring in the wake of the pandemic.

Spending on smartwatches rose from £18.5bn to £21.8bn in 2020, with ear-worn device sales more than doubling to £32.7bn.

"The introduction of health measures to self-track COVID-19 symptoms, along with increasing interest from consumers in their personal health and wellness during global lockdowns, presented a significant opportunity for the wearables market," said Ranjit Atwal, senior research director at Gartner.

"Ear-worn devices and smartwatches are seeing particularly robust growth as consumers rely on these devices for remote work, fitness activities, health tracking and more."

Gartner added a new category to its forecast in the shape of smart patches - non-invasive health-monitoring sensors which stick to the skin surface and are used to measure temperature, heart rate, blood sugar and other vital statistics more effectively than other wearable technologies.

Smart patch sales hit £4.7bn last year, and are forecast to hit $7.1bn by 2022, the market watcher said.

"Smart patches have been around for some time, but adoption has been slow due to strict regulatory compliance and resistance from both users and medical staff to adopt automated drug administration," Atwal said.