Latest Canalys Report Predicts Smart Watch Shipments to Surpass 5 Million Unit Mark By Next Year


By: Ali Raza  |   July 21st, 2013   |   Business, News, O Canada

Canalys has recently published its latest forecast report which states that the worldwide shipments of smart watches will surpass the 5 million unit mark by next year thanks to the Pebble smart watches, which has emerged as a prominent market leader after Sony in 2013. Considering the fact that, the numbers of smart watch shipments were over 330,000 mark during last year, 5 million unit prediction looks quite massive. However, it does not look impossible to achieve, as Samsung has already made it known that it developing a smart watch, while rumours have also indicated that Apple, Google and Microsoft are also looking to test their luck in this sector.

 

Last year it was Sony and Motorola that shipped those 330,000 smart watches, as Pebble Technology has now joined the game so it is anticipated that the numbers will rise by 500,000 units during this year, according to the estimates of the sources. But it appears that the smart watch market will see a swift disruption when the consumers will realise that these devices are offering sufficient and valuable functionality to their lives.

 

According to Canalys report smart watches will see the boom by the end of next year, as the company expects them to be “growing tenfold”, as till then Apple, Samsung, Microsoft and Google would have made their smart watches available for sale. It is anticipated that these new devices will boast more elegant hardware and offer more refined software, as their key features will be glanceable information, integration with cloud based web services and sensors.

 

VP and Principal Analyst of Canalys, Chris Jones said that, “Smart watches will be the most important new product category in consumer electronics since the iPad defined the market for tablets. Software platforms tied to smart watches will also be a tremendous opportunity for developers to write apps in categories such as health and wellness or sports and fitness.”

 

Canalys Analyst James Wang said that, “Smart watches will also require custom software. ‘An effective smart watch won’t just be a second screen for a smart phone. Creating a competent developer platform specifically for the form factor will be an enormous challenge. Google and Microsoft must execute more successfully than they have done with their tablet platforms and will have to adapt their business models appropriately.”

 

It is significant to mention here that sources have claimed that the next generation smart watches are not going to prove a replacement for today’s smartphones, in fact they will compliment mobile phones as ‘appcessories’.

 

Source: iPhoneinCanada

Photo: iPhoneinCanada

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