Smartwatches Will Have More Than Just Fifteen Minutes of Fame

Worldwide shipments of wearable devices is on track to grow 15.1% in 2018, totaling 132.9 million units over the course of the year, according to IDC.

The overall market is also expected to deliver a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.4% over the next five years, culminating in 219.4 million units shipped in 2022. With cellular connectivity on the rise and shifting consumer preferences, IDC believes smartwatches will account for almost two out of every five wearable devices shipped in 2022.

"Consumers are finally starting to understand and demand the utility of a smartwatch," said Jitesh Ubrani senior research analyst for IDC Mobile Device Trackers. "The appetite for wristbands and basic watches will not go away," said Ramon T. Llamas, research director for IDC's Wearables team.

With watches and wristbands in the spotlight, wearables in other form factors will capture a minority share of the market, although this share will continue to grow during the forecast period. Earwear and clothing are expected to be the leading underdog categories as smart assistants slowly become indispensible and are incorporated into headphones and as athletes and workers adopt sensor-laden clothing.

Over half of all smartwatches in 2017 were shipped by Apple, and while the company will maintain its lead in this category, competing products from the likes of Fitbit, Garmin, and all the Wear OS vendors will gain traction over time. Another growing sub-segment within this category are smartwatches dedicated to kids, though these will largely be relegated to China. Smartwatches are also expected to have the highest average selling price and are forecast to account for more than two-thirds of the dollar-value of the entire wearables market.

Basic watches are expected to grow over the course of the forecast with a CAGR of 16.4% as new vendors and fashionable designs drive the category forward. However, the category does face challenges as vendors have struggled to educate users around the benefits of these devices. The low-cost, commoditized hardware of basic wristbands will continue to hold their place in emerging markets. These wearables are expected to account for 22% of all wearables shipped in 2022, down from 36% in 2018.

Earwear wearables are forecast to ship 13.3 million units by the end of 2022 with a 48.0% CAGR from 2018-2022. Sensor-laden clothing is on track to grow from 2% share in 2017 to 5.3% share by 2022. The Others category, devised of lesser known wearables, such as those that can be clipped to different parts of the body or head-worn devices like the Muse headband, or even smart wristbands, is expected to maintain a very small portion of the overall market