Global wearables sales to grow 18.4% in 2016: Gartner

About 274.6 million wearable electronic devices are expected to generate USD 28.7 billion in revenue this year, research firm Gartner said today.
The market is further expected to grow to 322.69 million wearable electronic devices in 2017 from 232.01 million units in 2015.
Of the total sales, USD 11.5 billion is expected to come from smartwatches.
"From 2015 through 2017, smartwatch adoption will have 48 per cent growth largely due to Apple popularising wearables as a lifestyle trend. Smartwatches have the greatest revenue potential among all wearables through 2019, reaching USD 17.5 billion," Gartner Research Director Angela McIntyre said.
Though the sales of smartwatches are the one of the strongest types of wearables, their adoption will remain much below sales of smartphones, she added.

Bluetooth headset comprises the largest chunk of the market accounting for 116.32 million units last year. This is expected to grow to 128.50 million units this year and further to 139.23 million units in 2017, Gartner said.

Fitness wearables -- which include wristbands, smart garments, chest straps, sports watches and other fitness monitors -- continue to increase in popularity, driven in some part by US wellness programmes.
"Of all the fitness wearables, sports watches will be the one product category to maintain its average retail price over the next several years," McIntyre said.
Continued advances in sensors and analytics for sports watches will bring new capabilities that bolster average retail prices, she added.