Commentary

Apple Rules In Smartwatches; Consumers Await Wearables Pricing Below $99

The battle of the wrist wearables is on.

There actually are two battles going on: will the smartwatch or the fitness wearable win out and, secondly, what will cause consumers to even consider a wearable?

The functional lines between smartwatches and fitness trackers have been converging for some time, with each adding features from the category of the other.

At CES last week, for example, Fitbit introduced what it billed as a smart fitness watch, called Fitbit Blaze. The device essentially is both a smartwatch and a fitness tracker.

In the world of smartwatches, Apple rules the day, at least for the time being. The Apple Watch accounts for more than half of all smartwatch shipments, according to the latest smartwatch report from Juniper Research.

One reason is likely the size of the support system, with more than 10,000 apps available for the Apple platform, compared to 4,000 for Android Wear.

However, since the latest version of Samsung’s wearable operating system wasn’t released until late last year, the bulk of the sales will occur this year, according to Juniper.

The much bigger issue has to do with consumer adoption of wrist wearable devices.

Numerous surveys show that price is a major consideration in the purchase of any smart device.

More than half of those not looking to buy a wearable don’t want to pay more than $99 for one.

And even those inclined to purchase a wearable don’t want to pay more than $175.

Though major, price is not the only obstacle to consumer adoption.

About a third (30%) of those not looking to buy a wearable in the next six months said it was because they didn’t think they would use it.

A wearable ultimately has to provide more value than simply shifting the location of a notification from a smartphone to a wrist device. And it has to be priced right, at least in the eyes of the consumer.

The market awaits both of those elements.

Next story loading loading..