Global sales of wearable devices will reach 274.6 million this year, according to research firm Gartner. Who wins as sales move up by 18.4% from last year is hard to tell.
In theory, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and other makers of smartwatches should be winners based on the trend. Smartwatch sales are expected to move from 30.3 million last year to 50.0 million in 2016. Apple maybe the primary beneficiary, despite what Wall Street says are disappointing sales of its Apple Watch. If Gartner is right, that will change. Angela McIntyre, research director at Gartner, said:
From 2015 through 2017, smartwatch adoption will have 48 percent growth largely due to Apple popularizing wearables as a lifestyle trend. Smartwatches have the greatest revenue potential among all wearables through 2019, reaching $17.5 billion. … Though the sales of smartwatches are the one of the strongest types of wearables, their adoption will remain much below sales of smartphones. For example, in 2016 more than 374 million smartphones will sell in mature market countries and in large urban areas of emerging market countries, for example, in Hong Kong and Singapore.”
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In other words, Apple will continue to rely on iPhone sales as its primary growth driver as the wearables market gains steam.
Wearable sales continue to be dominated by simple headsets. Bluetooth headset sales are expected to reach 128.5 million units this year, up from 116.2 million in 2015. Simple, almost primitive, wearables will overshadow smartwatches in the foreseeable future. Maybe Apple should get into that business.
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