Connected eyewear and clothing to see rapid growth

The Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker, from the International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts that the overall market for wearable devices will see growth of 29% this year, with the number of units shipped by the end of the year estimated at 101.9 million. 

The market is expected to see a compound annual growth rate of 20.3%, culminating in the shipping of 213.6m units in 2020. 

IDC predicts that connected clothing and eyewear will see strong growth; with eyewear seen as useful in industry and clothing in the consumer world. 

"Unlike the smartphone, which consolidated multiple technologies into one device, the wearables market is a collection of disparate devices," said Jitesh Ubrani, senior research analyst for IDC Mobile Device Trackers.

"Watches and bands are and always will be popular, but the market will clearly benefit from the emergence of additional form factors, like clothing and eyewear, that will deliver new capabilities and experiences. Eyewear has a clear focus on the enterprise as it stands to complement or replace existing computing devices, particularly for workers in the field or on the factory floor.

"Meanwhile, clothing will take aim at the consumer, offering the ability to capture new forms of descriptive and prescriptive data."