The new report found that shipments of app-enabled smart wireless accessories will approach 170 million by the end of 2018, compared to over 18 million this year. At that time the market will be dominated by consumer electronics (CE) and fitness accessories, although in the longer run healthcare smart wireless accessories are expected to gain most traction.
New Consumer Electronics Markets
Junipers latest report, Smart Wireless Accessories: CE, Fitness, Health, Payments & Enterprise 2013-2018 noted that significant growth is expected across a very wide breadth of applications, comprising areas as diverse as video eyewear, baby monitoring, home security & monitoring and TV transmission equipment.
Report author Nitin Bhas stated: The actual take up of CE smart wireless accessories will depend on whether companies succeed in creating accessories that will capture the imagination of the consumer. Nevertheless, the multiplicity of potential use cases means that the consumer electronics category represents one of the most important areas in which smart wireless accessories will develop.
Google Glass and Smart Watches
The app-enabled smart wearables market, a particularly hot niche within the wireless accessories sector, has already seen significant numbers of deployments particularly in the health and fitness area.
The report forecasts an increased adoption of other wearables such as smart watches and to an extent smart glasses towards the latter part of the forecast period, owing to recent developments within the wearable segment. The market entry of players such as Apple and Google will further drive the adoption of premium wearable devices, and at the same time publicising and educating consumers.
Other Key Findings Include:
- The Fitness and Healthcare sector together will account for over 50% of the devices shipped this year.
- A multi-channel strategy is essential to gain traction in the race to secure a place in this new market.