Has the industry made such a tremendous amount of noise that consumers lost interest before it caught on?
In the mobile tech industry, marketing needs to be conducted extremely carefully in order to make sure that consumers will gain interest and retain it enough to make a purchase and tell all of their friends – wearable technology is no exception to this rule.
When it comes to these mobile devices, brands and advertisers have stopped at no expense to spread the word.
However, as of yet, these wearable technology devices – which tend to be rather on the pricy side – still have yet to catch on with the majority of consumers. While it has generated some interest as individuals read up on the latest developments in the market, the number who do actually make a purchase of one of these gadgets is not as big as it was predicted to be. While some analysts believe that it is still too early in the evolution of the devices to tell for certain what the future will bring, others wonder if the hype was so great in this area that it died off before getting started.
This has left wearable technology makers wondering if they are looking to the future or not.
From smartwatches to augmented reality glasses, there is no shortage of different options available for the consumer to choose. However, as this flood of options has been tremendously hyped and the choices have raced their way forward even before many consumers could even tell what they are, many wonder if the flame on that torch was burnt out before most people could even become aware of the existence of most of the products.
According to the trends that have been seen over the last year, and that were renewed a few weeks ago in Barcelona at the 2014 Mobile World Congress (MWC), it looks as though this year is going to be an exceptionally critical one in the arena of wearable technology. Though Google Glass and Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatches have seen disappointing sales, so far, the marketing has been pushing forward to boost enthusiasm. Now, all the analysts can do is watch to see whether or not 2014 truly proves to be the year of the wearable tech.
Analysts are predicting that this will be one of the top tech trends of 2014 and that it won’t stop there.
According to Canaly, the market analyst, the sales of wearable technology might be breaking the 17 million mark by the end of 2014, and that this trend will be greatly driven by strong sales in smartwatches.
These pricy tiny mobile devices worn on the wrist have become surprisingly popular.
While the wearable technology market may still currently be small, the predictions form Canalys are that this will have dramatically changed as soon as the end of the year. The range of these mobile devices and the competition that is starting to build is making it easier for consumers to find just the right gadget that will appeal to them enough to drop the money for them.
Smartwatch sales forecasts will dominate the wearable technology market with a predicted 8 million sales.
According to the report that was released by Canalys, at the moment the market for these wearable mobile devices is pretty small and that it is focused primarily at fitness enthusiasts, such as in the form of bands that are worn to track heart rate or steps taken. However, the fact that even this specific market has taken off as quickly as it has shows that they “represent a massive opportunity in the medical and wellness segment”.
The report also stated that this year will be the one in which these devices “become a key consumer technology, as the smart band segment is estimated to reach 8 million annual shipments.”
The report pointed out that in the second half of 2013, there had already been 1.6 million smartwatches and fitness bands sold. This was made pushed along considerably by the release of the Sony SmartWatch 2 and the Samsung Galaxy Gear.
The marketing that Samsung has put forward for its Galaxy Gear wearable technology has generated a considerable amount of exposure and interest from consumers. The shipments of those specific devices spiked the brand to the top of this category, although additional promotional activity will be needed over the next few months in order to overcome the sell-through that has been somewhat less than expected, so far. This, according to Canalys principal analyst and vice president, Chris Jones.
