IDC Forecasts Slower Growth for Wearables in 2018

The worldwide wearables market is forecast to ship 122.6 million units in 2018, up 6.2% from the 115.4 million units shipped in 2017, according IDC.

This will be the first year of single digit year-over-year growth for the wearables market, mostly due to continuing softness among basic wearables (devices that do not run third-party applications). However, double-digit growth will return in 2019 and through the rest of the forecast as smartwatches and new form factors gain acceptance. In 2022, IDC expects total shipment volumes will reach 190.4 million units, resulting in a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.6% over the five-year forecast.

Smartwatch volumes will reach a total of 46.2 million units shipped in 2018, up 38.9% from the 33.3 million units shipped last year. By 2022, total volumes will grow at a CAGR of 19.5% and reach 94.3 million units shipped, accounting for nearly half the entire wearables market.

Wristband volumes will remain essentially flat throughout our forecast. Although numerous vendors have exited in recent quarters and more will exit in the years to come, what will remain are best-of-breed devices that go beyond step counting and move towards being a health and fitness companion. Combined with their simple value proposition and lower prices compared to smartwatches wristbands will continue to play a significant role in the wearables market.

Earwear will grow the fastest among all the other wearables products on our list. In this category, we included those devices that feature a plus-one functionality beyond audio, and already earwear has expanded to include fitness tracking and coaching and real-time language translation, and in the coming years it should not be difficult to imagine a smart assistant tucked into a user’s ear.