Number of wearable devices to increase 18.4% in 2016 from last year: Gartner

Gartner Inc., an information technology research and advisory company based in Stamford, Conn., predicts that the number of wearable electronic devices sold worldwide will increase 18.4% in 2016 from last year.

Gartner forecasts that 274.6 million wearable devices will be sold worldwide in 2016, an increase of 18.4% from 232 million units in 2015. Sales of wearable electronic devices will generate revenue of US$28.7 billion in 2016, Gartner added in a statement released earlier this week. Of that revenue, US$11.5 billion will be from smartwatches.

“From 2015 through 2017, smartwatch adoption will have 48% growth, largely due to Apple popularizing wearables as a lifestyle trend,” said Angela McIntyre, research director at Gartner, in the statement. “Smartwatches have the greatest revenue potential among all wearables through 2019, reaching US$17.5 billion.”

McIntyre added that though the sales of smartwatches are the one of the strongest types of wearables, their adoption will remain much below sales of smartphones. “For example, in 2016 more than 374 million smartphones will sell in mature market countries and in large urban areas of emerging market countries, for example, in Hong Kong and Singapore,” she added.

Related: Worldwide wearable market to increase 44% in 2016 from this year, new research suggests

Although the size of the worldwide wristband market was on par with the unit sales of smartwatches in 2015, looking forward smartwatches will have stronger appeal with consumers as they typically have more multifunctional devices that can track exercise, Gartner noted in the statement. Wristband providers are experimenting with how to compete with smartwatches and take market share from the market leader, Fitbit. Examples of emerging value propositions for wristbands beyond fitness include mobile payments, access, safety, wellness and health.

Gartner said that head-mounted displays (HMDs) are an emerging market with origins as expensive military projects, and in 2016, the HMD market will progress toward mainstream adoption for consumers and enterprise use. Enterprise use of HMDs will also grow in the coming years, with 26% of HMDs designed for business use in 2018. HMDs will be purchased by businesses for use by employees for tasks such as equipment repair, inspections and maintenance. Workers also will use HMDs for viewing instructions and directions handsfree while they are performing a task, the statement said.