Smartwatch sales will double in next four years
Apple
Apple's new Watch Series 4 is likely to give smartwatch sales a boost this year and help the category dominate wearables in the next four years.
Analyst IDC is predicting that wearable sales in 2018 will grow by just 6.2 percent to 122.6 million body gadgets compared to 2017 sales of 115 million units.
But smartwatches will buck that trend, with IDC expecting smartwatch shipments to grow 39 percent on 2017 shipments of 33 million units to 46.2 million in 2018. Apple Watch accounts for just under half of all smartwatch shipments.
And by 2022, the analyst expects smartwatch sales to have increased two-fold to 94.3 million units by which time Apple's market share will have fallen to 36 percent, despite Watch shipments rising to 34 million.
SEE: How we learned to talk to computers, and how they learned to answer back (cover story PDF)
Gadgets that don't support third-party applications are the weak spot on the overall wearables market, according to IDC. It's forecasting no growth in wristband sales over the next four years, while other products such as earwear and clothing will pick up.
Worldwide 'earwear' shipments of 2.1 million in 2018 and are forecasted to grow to 12.3 million by 2022 as manufacturers add functionality such as fitness tracking, coaching, real-time language translation and possibly smart assistant features.
"The slowdown in the worldwide wearables market is a sign that this is a market in transition instead of a market in slowdown," said Ramon T. Llamas, research director for IDC's wearables.
He expects wristbands will continue to be relevant to wearables, but they'll be a simpler and cheap counterpart to smartwatches that may add "smartwatch-like" experiences.
IDC is forecasting Apple to ship 21.7 million watchOS devices in 2018, compared to 4 million Samsung Tizen-based smartwatches, 4.4 million Android Wear OS devices, and 8.7 million Android smartwatches.
The analyst is expecting Wear OS to be the fastest growing smartwatch OS in coming years, with shipments growing five fold to 19.9 million by 2022, leaving it in third spot behind Android-powered smartwatches, and the Apple Watch.
RECENT AND RELATED COVERAGE
We compare Samsung Galaxy Watch vs Apple Watch Series 4: Best doesn't always win
Apple just announced its latest Apple Watch about a month after Samsung revealed the Galaxy Watch. Both are excellent smartwatches with a focus on health and fitness, and while one is a better value, the other is likely to sell millions more.
Apple Watch 4: Why digital health's future depends on Apple finding a cloud partner
The new capabilities of Apple's flagship wearable device will be further enhanced by allowing healthcare providers to directly interact with patients using telemedicine and to review and analyze their data in the cloud.
How much will you have to spend to get your hands on Apple's latest smartphones and smart watches?
Apple Watch Series 4 starts at $399, packs larger displays and EKG sensor (CNET)
The new smartwatch is set to bring a series of new features to your wrist and a 30 percent larger screen.
Apple Watch Series 4 doubles down on digital health: Features, specs, prices
Apple has upgraded the Apple Watch throughout and it's clear that the company has bet the farm on digital health and wellness. It's likely to have multiple enterprise use cases.
Which smartwatch should you buy: Samsung Galaxy Watch, Apple Watch or Fitbit Versa (TechRepublic)
Navigating the various features of smartwatches can be time consuming. Here's a quick rundown of the pros and cons of three popular devices.