Xiaomi is the leading shipper of wearable devices

"The burst of the wearable bubble may have been overstated — on a global scale, at least. The category has been struggling here in the U.S., but internationally, it’s still seeing growth. Wearables are up eight-percent year-over-year, according to new numbers from Canalys — not exactly exponential, but at least things are trending in the right direction.
It’ll come as no surprise to anyone who’s been following the space with any regularity that Xiaomi is leading the way here. Last week Strategy Analytics noted that the Chinese company had taken charge of global shipments for the first time ever, following Fitbit’s middling financial report, and that assessment is reflected in these numbers.
Canalys’s numbers (which are a bit lower than SA’s) put Xiaomi in first place at 3.5 million shipments, just edging Fitbit’s 3.3 million. What’s more notable than the photo finish however, is Fitbit’s on-going struggles, which find the company dropping a full 34-percent year over year.  It’s an almost complete reversal of last year’s 36-percent year over year growth. Apple’s number also dropped in the report, with company’s smartwatch moving to third place at 2.7 million shipments.
Price has been the primary factors driving Xiaomi’s growth in recent years. The company sells trackers for as low as $15 here in the States — something Fitbit and Apple can’t come close to competing with. Fitbit’s lowest priced tacker, the clip-on Zip, retails for $60, and Apple essentially only sells a single product in the category."

Source:  TechCrunch, 10th August 2017

Abandonment rates for smart watches and fitness trackers are about 30%

"The abandonment rate of smartwatches is 29 percent, and 30 percent for fitness trackers, because people do not find them useful, they get bored of them or they break, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc.
"Dropout from device usage is a serious problem for the industry," said Angela McIntyre, research director at Gartner. "The abandonment rate is quite high relative to the usage rate. To offer a compelling enough value proposition, the uses for wearable devices need to be distinct from what smartphones typically provide. Wearables makers need to engage users with incentives and gamification."
The 2016 Gartner Personal Technologies Study surveyed 9,592 online respondents from Australia, the U.S. and the U.K. between June and August 2016, to gain a better understanding of consumers' attitudes toward wearables, particularly their buying behavior for smartwatches, fitness trackers and virtual reality (VR) glasses.
According to the survey, smartwatch adoption is still in the early adopter stage (10 percent), while fitness trackers have reached early mainstream (19 percent). Only 8 percent of consumers have used VR glasses/head-mounted displays (excluding cardboard types)."
Source:  Gartner, 7th December 2016

Regular activities of smart watch owners

Source:  Parks Associates, 2nd November 2016

Use of wearable devices in major markets

Source:  Ofcom's International Communications Market Report, December 2015
Full document is here

Household ownership of connected devices in the UK in 2015

Source:  Ofcom's Communications Market Report, August 2015
Full report here
All charts here

5% of US broadband households use a smart watch with health & fitness tracking

"Research firm Parks Associates announced today that 5% of U.S. broadband households use a smart watch with health and fitness tracking functions, while 8% use a digital pedometer or fitness/activity tracker. Tejas Mehta, Parks Associates’ research analyst covering the mobile and wearable markets, is attending Mobile World Congress next week in Barcelona to support the event and share the firm’s insights in wearable technology adoption trends and mobile consumer research.
“Though increased adoption of smartphones is fueling the mobile revolution that includes wearable devices, consumers' all-encompassing desire to use smartphones in all aspects of their lives is creating a dilemma for wearable OEMs,” Mehta said. “In the case of smart watches, these devices are regularly marketed as companion or ‘tethered’ smart products. Companies need to rally consumer interest in smart watches by educating them on the unique experiences and benefits of these and other wearables. Otherwise, the majority of consumers may not see the reason to purchase another device that has similar, if not the same, capabilities as their smartphone.”"

Source:  Parks Associates, 26th February 2015

Note - I'm not completely sure that there are enough smart watches in circulation for 5% of broadband homes to use one...

WeightWatchers 'is losing users to activity trackers'

"Revenue fell 10% to $327.8 million in the fourth quarter, Weight Watchers International said in a statement Thursday, declining for the eighth straight period as FitBit, Jawbone and other activity trackers lure dieters away.
Weight Watchers, founded in 1961, has built up an ecosystem of dieting programs, food products and support centers for people seeking to slim down. With consumers paying more attention to how many calories they're burning from exercise or everyday activities, fitness gadgets have surged in popularity, with 51.2 million American adults using applications to track their health, according to Nielsen. That's making it harder for Weight Watchers to justify subscriptions starting at $20 a month, since activity trackers can be paired with free mobile apps that make it easy to analyze caloric input and output.
"Weight Watchers really has to change what they're offering -- they have to get modern," said Meredith Adler, an analyst at Barclays. "People are just more digital now than they ever were.""

Source:  AdAge, 27th February 2015

Note - This is not necessarily causal, or even connected...

Pebble has shipped more than a million smart watches

"While Google and Apple have been getting the lion's share of attention for smartwatches lately, indie darling Pebble has been quietly soldiering on, improving its product and selling watches. In an exclusive interview, CEO Eric Migicovsky revealed that the company shipped its one millionth Pebble on December 31st of last year. That's more than double of what Pebble reported in March, indicating that price cuts and new feature additions later in the year successfully boosted sales figures."
Source:  The Verge, 2nd February 2015

Knowledge and understanding of new technology in the UK

Source:  Ofcom's 2014 Communications Market Report, released 7th August 2014
More here

Pebble has sold 270,000 smart watches

"The Pebble smartwatch is, thus, the first widely available, affordable smart watch.
It explains why it sold so well from the first day it came out, months ago, and why the Kickstarter project responsible for its existence made over $10 million / €7.65 million.
Speaking of records, Pebble Technology has recently announced that the Kickstarter campaign sold 85,000 of the watches, while pre-orders reserved 190,000 more. And that happened after Pebble had sold out on Best Buy."
Source:  Softpedia, 12th July 2013

30 million wearable, wireless monitoring devices were sold in the US in 2012

"Last year, 30 million wearable, wireless monitoring devices—including those used for medical and clinical use—were sold in the U.S., according to ABI Research analyst Jonathan Collins. That figure is up 37% from 2011 and Mr. Collins says he expects sales to rise to 160 million devices a year by 2017."
Source:  WSJ, 8th January 2013
Via Lynette Webb's Interesting Snippets