• by Chuck Martin , February 22, 2018

Wearable sales will grow an average of 20% each year over the next five years, according to a new forecast.

Worldwide wearable sales will reach $29 billion with 243 million devices shipping by 2022, based on the forecast by CCS Insight.

Apple smartwatch sales rose 60% to 16 million units last year, with about a quarter of Apple sales made up of the cellular-enabled Apple Watch, according to CCS. Apple is projected to come close to matching worldwide sales of Swiss-made watches this year.

Fewer than 6 million Google-powered Android watches are projected to sell this year, with 5 million having shipped last year.

In China, 25 million connected watches for children were sold last year.

There were 1.5 million hearable devices sold worldwide last year with sales for this year projected to 6 million units. Over the next five years, 30 million hearable devices are expected to be sold.

Fitness tracker sales slowed to 40 million units last year, a decrease of 23% from the previous year. That market is now dominated by Fitbit and Huami, accounting for 80% of global shipments. Huami in China now has grabbed the top spot with the expansive Chinese market.