Suppliers globally will ship 45.7 million wearable devices of all types in 2015, up 133.4 percent from the 19.6 million shipped in 2014, IDC said Monday in a forecast report. By 2019, total shipment volume is forecast to reach 126.1 million units, for a five-year compound annual growth rate of 45.1 percent, IDC said. "Smart wearables are about to take a major step forward with the launch of the Apple Watch this year," IDC said. "The Apple Watch raises the profile of wearables in general and there are many vendors and devices that are eager to share the spotlight.” IDC sees wrist-worn wearables, including smart watches and fitness trackers, accounting for more than 80 percent of “all wearable device shipments throughout the forecast,” it said. “Most vendors have concentrated their efforts on these products and IDC expects this trend to continue.” It estimates 17.7 million wrist-worn wearables were shipped in 2014 and that the volume in that segment will grow to 40.7 million this year, reaching 101.4 million in 2019.
Air Canada plans the April 24 debut of a travel app for the Apple Watch that will let customers easily check flight status and boarding times, the airline said Friday. A “glance” feature on the app “readily provides customers with personal and relevant information about flights departing within a 24-hour window,” it said. Such information is frequently updated during the day of travel, including “actionable notifications” for check-in and boarding, it said. The app also includes a “hand-off feature” to enable customers to begin more complex tasks, such as flight check-ins, that can then be completed on an iPhone or Mac computer, it said.
In advance of Apple’s release Monday of new details on its impending Apple Watch launch, consumers interested in wearable technology “have already started to form opinions whether they think they will buy one or whether they like some of the watch's features,” Accent Marketing said in a research report. "Our data shows that brand and product engagement can positively or negatively influence purchase decisions even long before a product is in market,” the company said. “It reinforces that companies need to offer and deliver an omni-channel engagement strategy early and often to build long-lasting relationships, as soon as consumers are exposed to a product, even a concept, all through the purchase cycle." The company polled online in February 1,000 consumers who already own at least one wearable device and found that four of every five had no plans to buy an Apple Watch, it said. Fifty-four percent view the Apple Watch as “an exciting use of technology,” though 51 percent believe the Apple Watch interface “will be too small to use,” it said. Other findings: (1) nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of wearable product consumers surveyed use their wearable tech device daily; (2) two out of three wearable product consumers want access to social media via their wearable devices; (3) three-quarters of millennials believe wearable tech devices are a new way consumer brands can engage with customers.
TomTom’s Runner and Multi-Sport GPS sport watches can now connect to the Nike+ platform, TomTom said Friday. The platform enables users to track and share their progress with the Nike+ community, challenge friends and earn NikeFuel points, the company said. TomTom GPS sport watches automatically sync activities to multiple running sites and apps including Nike+, TomTom MySports, RunKeeper, MapMyFitness, Jawbone, Endomondo and Strava, said TomTom, and data can also be uploaded manually to other open platform communities. The sport watches track real-time information including time, distance, pace, speed, heart rate and calories burned during an activity.
Apple will jump to the top of the global smart watch market share race this year with the Apple Watch introduction, Strategy Analytics said in a report. It’s forecasting that Apple will ship 15.4 million Apple Watches globally this year, compared with 12.7 million from other suppliers combined, giving Apple a 54.8 percent share, the report said. The total of 28.1 million smart watches to ship globally this year would be a 511 percent increase from the 4.6 million shipped in 2014, it said. Strategy Analytics sees the Apple Watch, which will start shipping in April, as the “catalyst” that will “ignite” the global smart watch market, it said. Apple's brand cache, loyal fan base, deep retail presence and “extensive apps ecosystem” all but guarantee a “healthy uptake” for the Apple Watch, though it’s “not yet perfect,” in its first generation, Strategy Analytics said: “Apple's Watch hardware design is arguably less attractive than some rival models such as the Huawei Watch, battery life may not be as long as many traditional wristwatch owners are used to, and Apple's premium pricing may be challenging for mass-market consumers. Apple will need to upgrade tangibly its second-generation Watch to stay ahead of competitors later this year."
Hyundai's Blue Link smart watch "companion app" is available for download from Google Play and will be available for the Apple Watch soon after its April release, the automaker said Wednesday. The Blue Link platform allows features like remote start and service information to be quickly accessed through devices like smart watches and smartphones, Hyundai said. To work the app on a smart watch, the wearer taps an icon or uses voice commands to activate remote functions, it said. The Blue Link smart watch app must be paired via Bluetooth to an owner's smartphone that contains the Blue Link mobile app, it said. "Remote functions can then be executed from almost anywhere in the U.S. as long as the user's smartphone has a Bluetooth and cellular or Internet connection." The app will work with first- and next-generation Blue Link-equipped Hyundai models, said Hyundai.
Domino's customers can now place and track pizza orders on a Pebble or Android Wear smart watch, the chain said Monday. To use the new ordering feature, users must have a Domino's app installed on their smart watch, along with a “Pizza Profile” with a saved “Easy Order” or recent order, the chain said. "Pairing Domino's with smart watch technology couldn't be more of a natural fit," said Kevin Vasconi, Domino's chief information officer. Domino’s spokeswoman Jenny Fouracre declined comment when we asked whether her company also plans to offer the pizza-ordering function on the Apple Watch when it becomes available in April. “To date our practice has been not to comment about anything forward looking,” she emailed Monday.
Toshiba America Electronic Components will start sampling two new Internet of Things application processors this month, the TZ1011MBG and TZ1031MBG, to help developers “meet the fast-growing demand for wearable IoT devices such as activity monitors, smart watches, bracelets and glasses,” it said Monday. The new application processors further expand sensing functionality to two IoT devices Toshiba launched last year, adding a 3-axis gyroscope to the TZ1031MBG and a 3-axis gyroscope and 3-axis magnetometer to the TZ1011MBG, the company said. “There has been an explosion of interest in services that monitor duration and level of physical activity, help improve nutrition and help prevent diseases related to lifestyle, all of which drives demand for wearable devices," it said. The new application processors "make it possible to realize wearable devices” without the need for any other components, “enabling a smaller form factor and, in turn, smaller, lighter wearables," it said.
“Tremendous innovation and growth” pervaded the “nascent” smart watch market last year, with global device shipments more than doubling to 5 million units, said market research firm Tractica Monday in a report. Though several “prominent industry players” launched smart watch products in 2014, Apple’s September Apple Watch announcement was the year’s “defining moment” for smart watch, even though the Apple Watch isn’t scheduled to begin shipping until April, Tractica said. “Since Apple’s announcement, there has been a flurry of activity among competitors trying to position and reposition themselves, and we expect a high degree of experimentation in terms of form factor, functionality, and operating system, offering consumers a wide range of options.” Tractica sees Apple Watch as Apple’s “biggest new product introduction since the iPad,” because it’s expected “to stimulate a surge in consumer awareness and adoption of smart watches,” the researchers said. They predict global shipments will grow nearly fivefold to 24.4 million, of which more than two-thirds -- 16.7 million units -- will be Apple Watches. It’s forecasting that the smart watch sector will continue to experience strong growth for the next five years. It sees 94.9 million smart watches shipping annually by 2020, based on a compound annual growth rate of 71 percent.
Smart watches will lead growth in the global wearables segment, which is forecast to jump from 17 million units shipped in 2013 to 187 million units in 2020, a Tractica report said. “Wearable computing is moving past the early adopter stage and the industry is beginning to see the first glimpses of how it will have a profound influence on the future of human interaction with technology.” The researcher defined wearables as a mix of different devices that track health, record events or provide notifications. Analyst Aditya Kaul referred to the upcoming Apple Watch as a “hero device” and predicted Apple will “provide the momentum and scale to drive significant awareness and growth in the sector” as it did with smartphones and tablets. Tractica predicts smart watches will experience growth through 2020, with a “strong surge” in demand this year followed by a “healthy growth rate” through the forecast period. Shipments of fitness trackers will continue to grow, it said, but at a slower pace as their functionality is increasingly supplanted by smart watches.