Table of Contents
Executive Summary
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- Wrist-worn wearables experience strong growth in 2015
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- Figure 1: Estimated unit sales of wrist-worn wearable devices, by product category, 2014 and 2015
- Less than one in 10 consumers own a wearable device
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- Figure 2: Personal ownership of wearable technology, September 2015
- Smartwatches to gain traction in the next 12 months
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- Figure 3: Plans to buy or upgrade wearable technology, September 2015
- Wearables are true fashion accessories
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- Figure 4: Important features when buying wearable technology, September 2015
- Health and sports monitoring attract most interest
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- Figure 5: Most interesting applications of wearable technology, September 2015
- Three fifths of consumers interested in some sort of information alert
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- Figure 6: Information alerts that consumers would be interested in receiving via wearable technology, September 2015
- Security and lack of killer application the main barriers to adoption
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- Figure 7: Attitudes towards wearable technology, September 2015
- What we think
Issues and Insights
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- Taking wearables into the mainstream
- The facts
- The implications
- How can wearables become more relevant to consumers?
- The facts
- The implications
The Market – What You Need to Know
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- Wrist-worn wearables experience strong growth in 2015
- Rise of phablets to boost uptake of wearables
- Data security a major barrier to wearable payments
- In-home fitness spurs interest in wearables
- Wearables’ potential in the enterprise segment
Market Drivers
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- Wrist-worn wearables experience strong growth in 2015
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- Figure 8: Estimated unit sales of wrist-worn wearable devices, by product category, 2014 and 2015
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- Figure 9: Estimated unit sales of wrist-worn wearable devices, by product category, 2014 and 2015
- Rise of phablets to boost uptake of wearables
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- Figure 10: Smartphone screen size, June 2015
- Data security major barrier to wearable payments
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- Figure 11: Consumer security rankings of different payment methods, July 2015*
- In-home fitness spurs interest in wearables
- Wearables’ potential in the enterprise segment
Key Players – What You Need to Know
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- Apple heavily investing in promoting its smartwatch
- In-store displays key to success
- 2016 set to be the year of consumer-ready 3D headsets
- Launch activity in the clothing and jewellery segments
- Microsoft rumoured to be ready for hearables in 2016
- Gesture control arrives to wearables
- The year of flexibility
Brand Communication and Promotion
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- Apple heavily investing in promoting its smartwatch
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- Figure 12: Recorded above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on smartwatches and fitness trackers, by company, 2015 (year to date)
- In-store displays key to success
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- Figure 13: Apple Watch range at an Apple Store, 2015
- Methodology and coverage
Launch Activity and Innovation
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- 2016 set to be the year of consumer-ready 3D headsets
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- Figure 14: Oculus Rift and Oculus Touch controllers, 2015
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- Figure 15: Google Cardboard viewer, November 2015
- Figure 16: PlayStation VR headset used with PlayStation Move controls, 2015
- Launch activity in the clothing and jewellery segments
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- Figure 17: Digitsole’s Warm Weries insole, November 2015
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- Figure 18: Ringly with black onix, November 2015
- Figure 19: Bellabeat’s Leaf, November 2015
- Microsoft rumoured to be ready for hearables in 2016
- Gesture control arrives to wearables
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- Figure 20: Gest, November 2015
- The year of flexibility
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- Figure 21: Samsung’s bendable batteries, October 2015
- Figure 22: Polyera’s Wove Band, November 2015
The Consumer – What You Need to Know
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- Less than one in 10 consumers own a wearable device
- Smartwatches to gain traction in the next 12 months
- Wearables are true fashion accessories
- Health and sports monitoring most interesting applications of wearables
- Three fifths of consumers interested in some sort of information alert
- Security and lack of killer application the main barriers to adoption
Ownership and Plans to Buy
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- Less than one in 10 consumers own a wearable device
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- Figure 23: Personal ownership of wearable technology, September 2015
- Millennials the most likely to own wearables
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- Figure 24: Personal ownership of wearable technology, by gender and age, September 2015
- Multiplicity of use cases impacts penetration
- Smartwatches to gain traction in the next 12 months
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- Figure 25: Plans to buy or upgrade wearable technology, September 2015
- Core audience drives future growth
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- Figure 26: Ownership of wearable technology, by plans to buy or upgrade wearable technology within a year, September 2015
Important Features
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- Young consumers value battery life
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- Figure 27: Important features when buying wearable technology, September 2015
- Wearables are true fashion accessories
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- Figure 28: Fossil’s Q collection of fitness trackers and smartwatches, November 2015
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- Figure 29: Apple Watch Hermès collection, September 2015
- Figure 30: Blocks’ removable covers, November 2015
Interest in Applications
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- Health and sports monitoring attract most interest
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- Figure 31: Most interesting applications of wearable technology, September 2015
- Most promising applications reflect key consumer trends
- Secondary use cases could promote certain product categories
- Access control could drive adoption among the disengaged
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- Figure 32: Most interesting applications of wearable technology for consumers who do not own nor plan to buy/upgrade any wearable technology, September 2015
- Virtual tourism appeals beyond core audience
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- Figure 33: Most interesting uses of virtual reality headsets, August 2015
Interest in Information Alerts
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- Three fifths of consumers interested in some sort of information alert
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- Figure 34: Information alerts that consumers would be interested in receiving via wearable technology, September 2015
- Men look to connect, women to stay healthy
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- Figure 35: Information alerts that consumers would be interested in receiving via wearable technology, by gender, September 2015
Attitudes towards Wearable Technology
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- Security and lack of killer application the main barriers to adoption
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- Figure 36: Attitudes towards wearable technology, September 2015
- Building familiarity to encourage mainstream adoption
CHAID analysis
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- Methodology
- Early adopters open to contextual marketing
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- Figure 37: Attitudes towards wearable technology – CHAID – Tree output, October 2015
- Figure 38: Target groups based on attitudes towards wearable devices – CHAID – Table output, October 2015
Appendix – Data Sources, Abbreviations and Supporting Information
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- Data sources
- Abbreviations
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