Over the past six months, there has been a spate of analyst reports on the wearables market, many of which forecast mass-market penetration within the next few years. Earlier this month the GSMA, working with KRC Research, released The Impact of The Internet of Things: The Connected Home, which reported that approximately twenty four per cent of technology enthusiasts surveyed already own an activity tracker, while nineteen per cent have a smart watch.
In February 2015, another report, The Market for Smart Wearable Technology was published by Nick Hunn of WiFore Consulting, which contained yet more evidence of the rapid growth of the wearables market in the next few years.
In line with other major market predictions, Hunn estimates that the wearables market will be worth $30 billion by 2020. However this is dependent on those in industry engaging with the needs of everyday people and their behaviour, as well as ‘high profile techies’ or early adopters. As a result, Hunn anticipates the market growing according to people’s current needs, e.g. the need to track pets or children, rather than the consumer being swept away by spectacular novelties like wearable glasses.
Health & fitness and Personal medical & assisted living are two of the key segments in the market poised for rapid growth, both of which will present a huge opportunity for operators in the form of cellular-connected wearables. Geofencing, which at the moment, is predominantly deployed to alert carers to wandering or lost Alzheimer’s patients, is predicted to rise in adoption, and will likely run on low power M2M networks.
Similarly, child trackers with a cellular connection are also predicted to soar in popularity, with the market growing, to $450 million by 2020, up from around $10 million in 2015. Indeed cellular connected devices designed for this purpose have already been developed, some of which were recently showcased at Mobile World Congress 2015.
Connected pet accessories also present a considerable market opportunity for operators. Again, the Geofencing and tracking of pets, puts operators in a unique position to develop future revenue streams and according to Hunn, the connected pet accessory market will be worth $230 million in 2020, from approximately $40 million in 2015.
Nick Hunn’s report reinforces the prediction that operators have a unique role to play in the wearables market, and despite his scepticism of other industry predictions and their approaches, is confident of the rapid growth of the wearables market. To read Hunn’s report, The Market for Smart Wearable Technology, please click here.