Longer Battery Life Keeps Trackers Ahead of Smartwatches Among Exercise Buffs
Suggestions that the smartwatch would make the activity tracker obsolete “have so far proved unfounded,” said NPD analyst Eddie Hold, citing a recent wearables report. But the gap is beginning to narrow as the smartwatch adds more advanced capabilities, said…
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Hold. Runners are the first user group to show a slightly higher number of smartwatch owners/users, with 22 percent saying they run on a regular basis vs. 21 percent of activity tracker users, Hold said. But of consumers who exercise several times a week, 47 percent are planning to buy an activity tracker “soon,” he said, citing longer battery life as the primary attraction. Tracker companies must continue to broaden their portfolios to satisfy more exercise-focused consumers, “combining specialist functions with generalist capabilities,” Hold said. Additional exercise/sports activities are creating a need for more smart sensors, said Hold, with one in four consumers saying they would be interested in buying active wear with built-in sensors -- at the right price. The report was based on consumer panel research conducted in April with 5,400 consumers 18 or over.