Wearables Shipments Will Reach 2.3 Million Units in CEE by 2018

The Central and Eastern European (CEE) wearables market reached a record volume of 1.6 million units in 2016, reflecting 33.8% growth year on year. In the fourth quarter of the year (4Q16) 581,000 units were shipped, which translated to 29.4% growth, according to data from the Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker published by IDC.

"One of the most interesting features of the CEE wearables market in 2016 is that, for the first time, it surpassed the CEE detachable tablet market in terms of value,“ notes Jiří Teršel, senior research analyst for IDC Mobile Device Trackers. On average, three in four wearable devices shipped were basic, while one in four was smart (i.e., with ability to run third-party programs). While the distinction between basic and smart makes sense historically, the imaginary line between the two is becoming blurred in terms of software functionality.

Compared to the year-on-year growth of 141.0% in 2015, the predictable decrease to double digit growth indicates that, while the market shows healthy dynamics, it is also inevitably one year closer to maturity. In 2016, the wearables market did not see as many wholly new models coming out, which was a result of overstock in warehouses across CEE from previous quarters. This has enabled vendors to brace themselves, make acquisitions, and to look forward to introducing new models in 2017, many of which have not yet even been announced.

"Cellular connectivity of next-generation wearables is promising for future use cases, although vendors will need to focus on optimizing both the hardware and software to minimize power drain,“ notes Teršel. “While, on one hand, this will be a challenging task due to the varying cellular infrastructure quality between, and even within, countries, on the other hand, it also presents an opportunity to differentiate.“

CEE Wearables Market, Shipment Growth (YoY), 2014-2018