Health IT, Patient Engagement

Hype fizzles for consumer wearable devices

A new report suggests that once-explosive growth for fitness bands has been headed downward.

Is the U.S. market for consumer wearable devices headed toward the trough of disillusionment on the Gartner Hype Cycle? A new report suggests that explosive growth in demand for fitness bands, smartwatches, smart glasses (think Google Glass) and the like peaked in January and has been headed downward ever since. 

Argus Insights, a research firm based in Los Gatos, Calif., analyzed 327,834 online consumer reviews of wearable sensors between January 2014 and June 2015, and determined that interest dropped precipitously in the first half of this year.

“Our analysis of review volume for the wearables market correlates directly with unit sales volume, and we have seen a significant slowing in consumer demand for both wearables in general and fitness bands in particular,” Argus Insights CEO and founder John Feland said.

According to the Argus report, there were nearly 30,000 reviews for wearables in January, more for Fitbit than any other brand, with Garmin and Jawbone following behind. (The Apple Watch didn’t hit the market until April.) That fell to 25,000 a month later — not unexpected after the holiday rush — and about 16,000 by the end of June.

While the midyear figure was well above the same month in 2014, the trend has been continuously downward since January. Last year, online chatter increased in 10 of 12 months, and Argus attributed the September 2014 downturn to the preview of the Apple Watch.

“The announcement corresponded with a large loss in mindshare for Fitbit as potential smartwatch buyers waited to see what Apple had to offer. Once details were released however, consumers stopped holding their collective breaths for the Apple Watch, embracing Fitbit and other wearable device manufacturers for the holiday season,” Argus reported.

Fitbit may be losing its advantage, though, as people see the potential of smartwatches to be more than just fitness trackers.

“Consumers expect their wearables to do more than simply count steps, just as they expect to do more than just make phone calls with their handsets,” Feland said. “It is clear that as the Apple Watch ,the Moto 360 and the LG Watch Urbane outperform fitness bands in the hearts of consumers. Fitbit and others in this category will need to add more to their offerings to keep consumers engaged and coming back for more.”

Image: Infopik 

 

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