Facts and statistics on Wearable Technology

2014 was hailed by many tech publications and experts as the “Year of the Wearable,” thus reflecting an explosion of new wearable products, giant electronic companies competing neck to neck with young, crowd-funded startups and a very quick market growth compared to previous years. Businesses, military forces and medical professionals have been using wearable technology for decades, but the private consumer market has only recently started to feature items such as smart glasses, smart watches, hearables, fitness and health trackers or even smart jewelry and smart fashion. The global wearables market is expected to reach a value of 19 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, more than ten times its value five years prior.

Depending on how one defines wearable technology, the invention of the first wearable device can be traced to the creation of the portable watch in the 16th century. However, it wasn’t until the mid 20th century that technology really started to take off, with Pulsar’s Calculator Wristwatch being the first consumer wearable device to achieve global success. In 2000, the first Bluetooth headset was sold and in 2004, the first GoPro was launched. Google Glass, released in 2013, was the first voice-operated optical head-mounted display product to combine hands-free internet access with augmented reality features and the ability to capture images. Although Google Glass was disconnected in early 2015, it has the merit of bringing the subject of wearable devices out of specialized tech conferences and into the general public attention. Another product which paved the way for the present-day fitness trackers was a collaboration between giants Nike and Apple . The Nike+iPod Sports Kit, launched in 2006, consists of a transmitter device attached to a shoe, which can communicate with Nike+ Sportbands and Sportwatches or with most higher-generation iPods and iPhones.

As of 2015, the most successful wearables on the market are, and will continue to be, those worn around the wrist, such as smart watches and health and fitness trackers, which are expected to account for 9 in 10 wearables bought worldwide. The most important producers of smart watches are Samsung, Pebble, Fitbit, Apple, Sony, Lenovo and LG. The most successful fitness trackers so far were produced by Nike, Fitbit and Jawbone.

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