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According to analyst firm Juniper Research, while the number of high-end smartwatches is faltering, ‘smart analogue’ or hybrid watches remain largely unaffected by the market slow-down and will likely surge in the coming years.
Basic smartwatches (those that feature traditional watch faces but offer some connected functions) currently account for around 30% the market’s overall value, Juniper anticipates that this share will grow to almost 40% within the next five years.
“Multifunctional smartwatches are the most visible smartwatch category overall, but now that initial interest has waned, the segment is consolidating,” their report says.
Juniper claim smartwatch activity from watchmakers in 2016 was greater than that of most consumer electronic vendors.
“Motorola and Huawei have both withdrawn for the present, while Pebble and Vector have been acquired. The sector is now primarily the preserve of Apple, Samsung and Fitbit, together with traditional watchmakers like Fossil and TAG Heuer,” they say.
“With no must-have use case emerging for multifunctional smartwatches,” Juniper has scaled back its earlier estimates for market growth, anticipating less than 60 million smartwatches in circulation by 2012.
They say that device revenues from smartwatches will grow at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 13.3%, reaching over $21.5 billion per annum in 2021.
Research author James Moar added that “now that the initial smartwatch buzz is over, a longer product lifecycle and sluggish adoption are responsible for the slowing market, as users do not regularly upgrade.”
Their findings echo what ChannelNews said back in December.
