Market researcher GfK’s Panelmarket has the total ‘wearables’ market posting promising figures for H1 2014, selling nearly a quarter of a million units.
According to the figures, health and fitness trackers are the products fuelling wearables take-up, accounting for over 50% of the volume in Q2 2014 with sales growing by nearly 20% from January 2014 to July 2014, adding considerable value to the wearables movement.
The most notable peak in sales was during the Christmas period across all types of wearable products. GfK adds that as new brands have entered the market, prices have begun to rise across most wearables. However, the researcher adds that this is generally because manufacturers are positioning their first entries into the market quite high. The long lead-up to Christmas could see more brands delivering price declines ahead of the festive season, or even introducing more entry price point models. GfK predicts that wearables will be a big gifting market, with Christmas 2014 the first true test of this burgeoning product.
With only a handful of brands operating in the Smartwatch market currently, GfK believes that this is where there will be considerable growth in the near future; especially given the amount of new product launches that have occurred and are due to occur in the next few months.
The two key factors to this sector will be aesthetics and usability, GfK says, which are going to be crucial to ensure a consumer continues to use and want to wear their wearable device and it is not just a short term novelty. App usages and ease will be vital to the usability side, it adds.
GfK business director Erol Sukan comments: “GfK is excited to track the growth wearable products are going to have over the next year, although price, design and functionality are going to be crucial to its success.”
