Wearables — a type of consumer technology designed to be used while worn — are expected to grow 6.1% in 2024 compared with 2023. This growth rate is based on a forecast by International Data Corporation’s (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker of 537.9 million wearable units shipped worldwide.
IDC’s report pointed to various factors impelling the growth: an improving global economy, a refresh cycle in mature markets in which older technology is replaced by newer, and sustained adoption in emerging regions.
Some categories of wearables will see better performance than others. Shipments of hearables, for example, are expected to increase 10% this year, while shipments of smart watches are expected to decrease 3%.
Smart rings and smart glasses may experience as much as 88% and 73% growth, respectively. However, these devices currently make up a very small segment of the wearables group, with each totaling less than 2 million units shipped in 2024.
Hearables, conversely, are the largest category of wearable device, comprising more than 60% of the wearables market and totaling 342.2 million units shipped. Hearables are intelligent, always on, ear-worn consumer electronic devices with an acoustic user interface. Their growth stems from further proliferation in emerging markets as well as the start of a refresh cycle in mature markets, IDC described.
“In the second quarter, hearables continued to face downward pressure on average selling prices, especially within the truly wireless earwear segment,” said Lujyne Amro, research analyst, Data & Analytics at IDC. “This decline was driven by increased competition and consumer demand for more affordable options.”
The -3% rate in smart watch shipments in 2024 is the first-ever year-over-year decline, IDC said. The decrease is tied to factors in India; because India has been a global driver for low-cost smart watches during the past few years, the market is affected by the glut of white-label smart watch products. Excluding India, the global market for smart watches is forecasted to grow nearly 10% in 2024.
In addition, global smart watch shipments are estimated to rebound to reach 4.8% growth in 2025.
Average selling prices for smart watches should rise by 5.7% in 2024, IDC said. This means that vendors will be challenged with justifying those increases and perhaps will need to boost products with AI technology, said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager, Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers at IDC.
“Minimal design changes such as larger screens or a change in materials only go so far. To truly accelerate growth, vendors are going to have to focus on incorporating additional sensors while providing tailored advice to improve an individual’s health — a lot of which will require the use of artificial intelligence, although highlighting the use cases will be more important than highlighting the tech,” Ubrani said.
In the categories of rings and smart glasses without a display, IDC expects more brands will come forward to participate in the market. “Meta’s partnership with Ray-Ban has proven to be quite successful, which has led to the rise of fast-follower brands flooding online marketplaces with low-cost versions. Meanwhile, smart rings are largely expected to maintain their premium status, as the category is still led by a select few brands,” the company said in its report.