Rising sales of smartwatch, but there is room for smarter watch

Sales of wearables devices are expected to strong growth during 2016, with increased estimates in the number of products sold in that IDC estimates + 38.2% over the previous year. It will touch the threshold of 110 million pieces, as will more than double up to 237.1 million estimated for the year 2020.

Of the wearables sector it includes different types of products, with that of smartwatch and wrist bracelets that will continue to represent the largest share with an estimated 100 million units sold in 2016 compared to a 72.2 million reported during 2015 . Other types of products related to the categories of smart glasses, wearable devices and those who are brought to the ears, collect sales for just under 10 million units in 2016 with an estimated doubling of the overall market share by 2020 of total wearables.

The market sees the smartwatch various player present, with the dominant role played by Apple and Google respectively WatchOS and Android Wear. According to IDC, these products cover only 25% of the wearables market in 2016, rising to approximately 33% in 2020. This leads to identify a category of products defined as smarter watch, composed of watches that in the face of a traditional design and a user interface not based on App integrate some smart features for tracking data.

Products smarter watch can be a gateway to the wearables sector for a large number of users, interested in tracking options of their business on the move but do not require the advanced features of this smartwatch models, and especially ecosystem APP which characterizes the latter. watch smarter solutions also represent a business opportunity for more traditional manufacturers of watches, which can in this way enter into the context of the technological proposals without the typical complexity of smartwatch solutions.

At present the industry sees the smartwatch watchOS Apple as the most popular operating system on the market, with about 14 million units planned for sale in 2016 for a 49.4% market share. Followed by Android Wear with 6.1 million products and 21.4% of the market, while Tizen is in third place with 3.2 million devices and a 11.3% share. Linux and OS Pebble follow with smaller dimensions and growth prospects that will be aligned to the average of the market but not enough to create competitive pressure on watchOS and Android Wear.