Smartwatches, Ear-Worn Devices to Lead Wearables to 8% CAGR Through 2023, Says IDC
Wearable devices, on track for global shipments of 222.9 million units this year, are expected to reach 302.3 million units in 2023, growing at a 7.9 percent compound annual growth rate, reported IDC Wednesday. Smartwatches and ear-worn devices will be…
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more than 70 percent of all wearables shipments during the period. The category is diversifying by connectivity and distribution, said analyst Jitesh Ubrani: Enterprises and healthcare will look to free the watch from the phone, while telcos push subsidies or financing options for watches with cellular service, with half of watches expected to be connected to a cellular network in the next four years. Apple is expected to continue to lead in watches, with 25.9 percent share in 2023 vs 41.2 percent today, while the category overall is seen growing from 91.8 million units in 2019 to 131.6 million. Behind Apple will be various brands running different operating systems, including Android, WearOS and Tizen, IDC said. Parental tracking of kids' location and watches’ role in the smart home ecosystem are use cases expected to expand, it said. Use cases for wearables overall will expand over the period, as smartwatches extend further into healthcare and fitness connecting with multiple applications and systems, and ear-worn devices venture into nascent areas such as language translation, smart assistant deployment and coaching, said analyst Ramon Llamas. Ear-worn devices, currently at 32.3 percent of the wearables market share, will grow from 72 million units this year to 105.3 million in 2023, said IDC. Many will be used as the front end to smart assistants or to track health-related metrics; IDC also expects brands to push added benefits such as features designed to offset hearing loss or ways users can fine-tune their listening experience. Wristbands, at 24.3 percent of 2019 shipments, will have flat shipment growth through the reporting period, to 55 million shipments, said IDC. Chinese brands such as Xiaomi and Huawei have been leading the wearables market, and more than half of all wristbands are expected to be shipped in China. Mature markets such as North America and Western Europe are expected to have declining shipments during the period as users transition to smartwatches. Other wearables will grow from 5 million to 10.4 million shipments during the span, it said.