Can Smartwatches Become The Future Of Wearable Technology?

CAN SMARTWATCHES BECOME THE FUTURE OF WEARABLE TECH? Jump forward to 2020, the smartphone will be almost 30 years old and electric self-driving cars will be everywhere, but will we all be wearing the latest smartwatch. Wearable tech has exploded over the past few years with mixed reception from the market. The release of a new generation of smartwatches means that for the first time smart timepieces stand a real chance of breaking into the mainstream. With the release of Apple Watch, we look at whether the smartwatch is here to stay or is just another minidisk waiting to happen. Early Smartwatches Although the smartwatch has very recently taken centre stage in the consumer tech market, it's a concept that's been around for around 15 years. Unfortunately, whilst the concept was there, the technology and style has taken some time to catch up. IBM WatchPad 1.5 2000 IBM Watchpad 1.5 Features: Touch Display, Fingerprint Sensor, Calendar Software Retail Price: Not released 25am 2002 Fossil Wrist PDA Rdress Date Book Toboliet Herio Pad Features: Stores Contacts, Memos and Appointments Retail Price: $249 2006 3 Day Microsoft Spot Fri Sat Sun 67°F 70°F 73°F Features: Traffic Information, News Reports, MSN Messenger Retail Price: $250 HIGH 2007 1 12 , Sony Ericsson MBW-150 3 sony Erlcssen Features: Bluetooth, Call and Text Alerts Retail Price: $315 +46461940 30 +82080101234 1 o0 2 ABc 3 DEF 2009 4 GHE 5 XL 6 NO Samsung S9110 7 FORS 8 TUV 9 wYz Features: Acts as a Phone, Voice Recognition, MP3 Player Retail Price: $640 SAMSUNG Current Market Leaders Top 10 Smartwatch Manufacturers by Unit Sales 2014 SAMSUNG 1,200,000 pebble 700,000 # fitbit. 600,000 SONY 550,000 lenovo 500,000 LG 420,000 GARMIN. 400,000 Withings 170,000 12:45 POLAR. 150,000 PM ASUS 120,000 75'F SAMSUNG are currently the market leader however there is no one manufacturer currently dominating sales. Forecasts for Wearable Tech Sales Sales of all wearable technology looks set to more than double by 2018. The market is set to be worth a huge $12.6 Billion in 2018 having started at only $6.3 Million in 2010 15,000 12,642 12,500 10,920 10,000 8,862 7,140 7,500 5,166 5,000 2,520 2,500 1,260 6.3 630 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Smartwatches on the Rise Having made up around 2% of the wearables market in 2013, analysis predict this will grow to over 17% this year. 10,00% Wearable Cameras 5,00% Smart Watches Percentage 0,00% 2013 2014 2015 -5,00% Health Care -10,00% Sports/Activity Trackers -15,00% Going forwards, whilst the rate of growth for other devices like activity trackers is starting to level out, the growth of watches looks set to accelerate sharply going into 2015. Gauging the Mood Around Smartwatches Both BI Intelligence and ON World Surveyed young professionals who are seen as the main target group by manufactures. They Found That: 2. The most important feature for consumers is the ability of the watch to relay information and messages from their phone. 60% of uses wanted their watch to come with health and training features. 4. 3. Of those looking to upgrade their mobile phone, only 20% would consider purchasing a smartwatch at the same time. Of the 80% who said that they would not buy a smartwatch by far the biggest reason was that they didn't see a point for the device. I don't see the point 51% I don't like wearing a watch 13% Price: They are too expensive 8% I just don't want to spend a lot of money on a watch 6% All smartwatches I have seen are ugly 7% Other 15% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% Introducing the Apple Watch Apple will likely claim 54.8% of smartwatch market this year despite only launching at the end of April. Although the Apple watch will retail starting at $400, only 8 percent of likely adopters surveyed by ON World said they would pay more than $299. Apple phone owners are twice as likely to consider purchasing a smartwatch with their phone compared to android users. The premium $10,000 plus Apple Watch "Edition" has been forecast to be so popular the it led some analyst to predict it could eat up a third of the world's gold reserves Apple Watch pre-orders for the first 24 hours in the US alone were 957,000 The Range The Apple Watch range has been priced to appeal to a wide range of budgets. There are a number of entry level models at comparable levels to many other smartwatches on the market. However, by setting the price structure at the top of the range in line with designer time pieces and jewellery, Apple have opened their product to a new super luxury market where they can achieve margins that blow their other products out of the water. 10:09 MON'S Watch $549 - $1,099 Watch Sport $349 - $399 Watch Edition $10,000 - $17,000 Models: 20 Models: 10 Models: 8 Est. Q1 Sales: 1.2 Million Units Est. Q1 Sales: 1.8 Million Units Est. Q1 Sales: 40,000 Units App Wars Whilst producinga desirable and attractive product is a key battle ground for the top manufacturers, going forward, the ability to attract new customer is likely to be very closely tied to the quality of Apps available. Here's a selection of some of our favourites: Apple KN OCK doximity epicurious D Using Bluetooth technology allows you to unlock your MacBook or Mac desktop by just touching your watch against it. Potentially this technology could be used in the future to unlock secure doors, cars Find a recipe you like on the website and transmit it to Although not aimed at the mass market, Doximity makes the Apple Watch a new piece of essential kit for Doctors everywhere. The app gives doctors and medical professionals, working on the wards and on call the ability to quickly and securely share messages with colleagues wherever they are. your Apple Watch as you cook. Your watch will then walk you through it with everything from instructions to keeping track of cooking times. and more. Android Look Behind runtastic todoist rmokes sports funcistic An essential for anyone looking to track their runs Runtastic adds to android Synced with all you devices and synced with Google services and Dropbox, Todoist is a great all in one personal management app that brings all your scheduled task and connected information A simple yet brilliant use of the watch phone data link. Look behind allows the user to project the image from their phone camera onto their watch screen allowing them to still view the picture when they cannot see the phone screen. Great for builders and tradesmen for wears built in step counter by adding calories, time and total distance. You can even use voice commands to your smartwatch. on your run. viewing behind units. Sources: http://9to5mac.com/2015/04/20/apple-watch-sales-estimate/ http://www.statista.com/topics/1556/wearable-technology/ http://www.statista.com/statistics/302684/wearable-devices-shipments-worldwide-by-category/ http://www.zdnet.com/pictures/before-the-iwatch-a-history-of-smartwatches-in-pictures/ http://www.digitaltrends.com/wearables/report-activity-trackers-fitness-bands-arent-dead-but-smartwatches-are-closing-in-quickly/ http://www.androidauthority.com/samsung-no-1-smartwatch-sales-593790/ http://uk.businessinsider.com/wearable-smartwatch-market-report-2014-11 http://mobihealthnews.com/36185/survey-60-percent-of-likely-wearables-adopters-want-health-features/ http://www.theweek.co.uk/gold-price/61682/gold-price-pinned-down-as-us-dollar-rides-high http://carlhowe.com/blog/apple-watch-an-overnight-multi-billion-dollar-business/ http://recode.net/2015/04/20/conde-nasts-first-apple-watch-app-tells-you-when-its-time-to-eat/ WATCHES2U} Market Value in million US dollars TD