Consumer adoption of smart wearables is now nearly half (48%) of U.S. Internet households, Kristen Hanich, director of research for Parks Associates, told a Connected Health Summit audience Thursday, signaling that the category is “crossing the chasm” -- or moving from early adopters to the mainstream.
Five years ago, “adoption was half of what it is today,” she noted, adding that as the category has evolved, consumers are increasingly turning to service subscriptions on top of the cost of the wearables themselves.
One third of wearable owners now have such subscriptions, Hanich said. These are led by cellular plans, but “fitness and lifestyle subscriptions, premium health insights, and health coaching services are in demand and growing,” she explained.
The wearables market is led by smart watches, “owned and used by roughly a third of U.S. internet households,” Hanich reported, followed by smart scales, and then connected exercise equipment.
Moving up, though, are smart rings and hybrid watches (which look like dumb analog watches despite being smart). Indeed, she said that 12% of households are likely to purchase a smart ring in the next six months, a figure just about equal to those looking to purchase both hybrid watches and GPS sports watches. Smart watches and fitness trackers still lead in consumer want lists, however.
Hanich pointed out that smart rings and hybrid watches have the advantage of being screenless devices.
From the article, "Ring This Up: Smart Wearables Hitting Mainstream Status" by Les Luchter
How big of a selling point, you may ask? Enough that over two thirds of consumers in a recent Parks Associates study said they are interested in a warranty service when they purchase a professionally...
If you’re a tech enthusiast, you probably already have a few “smart” appliances. But even if you don’t have any, you likely know someone who does. A report published in October by Parks Associates, an...
And CES has taken notice as well. What once was contained in a tiny corner of one conference hall now has its own dedicated digital health section, where Abbott was showing off the latest in testing t...
Parks Associates, a market research and consulting firm, released information that demonstrates sports fans’ willingness to pay more than $20 per month for all games. Over 60% of soccer fans p...
