Few consumers plan to purchase wearable tech in coming year

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According to the report by international law firm Osborne Clarke and app developer Mubaloo, just 8% of consumers intend to purchase a smartwatch or Google Glass or any sort of wearable tech in the next year.

James Mullock of Osborne Clarke says their research shows “the market penetration is still not out of the first quartile”.

“People may be getting excited about an iWatch and products like Sony’s new SmartWatch 3, but most of them won’t open their wallet and actually buy one,” adds Mullock. “The next 12 months will be crucial for the wearable tech industry to show people how these products can be an important part of their lives.”

Dr. Mark Mason, found and CEO of Mubaloo believes that wearable tech won’t take off until developers create apps and compelling reasons for consumers to buy them.

A recent global forecast from CCS Insights forecasts the lion’s share of wearable tech (87%) will go to smartwatches and smart bands over the next four years. By 2018 the company predicts 68 million smartwatches and 50 million smart bands will be shipped.

This Christmas will see strong growth for smart bands, according to Marina Koytcheva, CCS Insight’s Director of Forecasting. “Wearables are poised to be the perfect gift for the person who has everything this Christmas,” she said in a recent announcement. “We believe this will fuel strong growth in the final quarter of 2014 for smart bands, particularly fitness trackers, which will account for more than half of the 35 million wearables in use at end of 2014.”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kristina Knight-1
Kristina Knight, Journalist , BA
Content Writer & Editor
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Kristina Knight is a freelance writer with more than 15 years of experience writing on varied topics. Kristina’s focus for the past 10 years has been the small business, online marketing, and banking sectors, however, she keeps things interesting by writing about her experiences as an adoptive mom, parenting, and education issues. Kristina’s work has appeared with BizReport.com, NBC News, Soaps.com, DisasterNewsNetwork, and many more publications.