Providing Market Intelligence for 40 Years

In The News

Ring This Up: Smart Wearables Hitting Mainstream Status

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

Previously In The News

eMarketer Sees Digital Video Growth Leveling Off in Western Europe

According to research firm Parks Associates, Spain has one of the highest internet-only household rates in Europe, implying that consumers there may be more likely to pay for digital video services th...

AT&T-Time Warner Mega-Deal: Merger For New Media Era Or A Bad Remake?

Pay-TV operators are seeing a “slow erosion of the core business,” analyst at Parks Associates said. “After years of attempts to be more than just a ‘dumb pipe,’ pay-TV operators have come to reali...

What Google's Project Fi Means For Mobile Operators

Research published by analyst firm Parks Associates last month revealed that two thirds of U.S. consumers who are likely to switch carriers in the next year felt access to Wi-Fi as part of their mobil...

Augmented Reality is Redefining Remote Technical Support

What does all of this mean for your business, customer support agents, and your clients? The innovation that is happening with visual and augmented support is still just beginning, but when you look a...

Phone:
972-490-1113
Mailing Address:
2301 West Plano Parkway, Suite 210, Plano, TX 75075
Expertise
Smart Home: Management and Safety Consumer Electronics Connected Health and Wellness Connectivity and Mobility Small-to-medium Business (SMB) MDU
Services
Research Memberships Visibility Memberships Streaming Video Tracker Smart Home and Security Tracker Broadband Market Tracker Channel Analytics
Events
CONNECTIONS™ CONNECTIONS™ Summit/CES Smart Energy Summit Connected Health Summit Future Of Video Smart Spaces
Resources
Press Releases Analyst Blog Parks in the News
Store
View Your Cart
About Us
Overview Team Contact Us Privacy Policy

Follow:

© 2023-2026 Parks Associates. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy

Design & Developed By Agency Partner Interactive