While smartwatch manufacturers expected 2013 to be a great year for these relatively new devices, sales figures over the year indicated otherwise. Some smartwatches barely sold at all while others like Samsung's Galaxy Gear was only moderately successful.
However, smartwatch manufacturers haven't waved the white flag yet and many plan to be more aggressive in the coming year. Which is a good thing because many analysts and technology pundits have stated that the coming year will see the birth of a burgeoning market for smartwatches.
According to a recently published report by Strategy Analytics, the smartwatch industry will see an estimated growth of about 500 percent this coming 2014. Aside from the growth estimates, the potential of the smartwatch is also evident by the fact that major companies like Google, Apple, Microsoft, Sony, LG and even the former technology giant Nokia have been reported to be developing smartwatches of their own.
"According to our Wearable Device Ecosystems (WDE) service, global smartwatch sales will grow almost +500% in 2014. We expect technology heavyweights - such as Samsung, Apple, Sony, Microsoft, Qualcomm and Google - to expand the market significantly in coming years," said the report. "The United States, Western Europe, China and developed Asia will be the leading territories to target for volume and value."
"This will lead to a total of 193.7 million business use smartphone shipments in 2013, up a strong 38.5% from the 139.9 million units in 2012. Total employee-liable smartphone shipments in 2017 will reach 328.4 million units, resulting in a CAGR of 30.1% for 2012-2017. Corporate-liable smartphone shipments will reach 88 million units, resulting in a CAGR of 11.2%. Total business use smartphone shipments will reach 416.4 million units in 2017 at a CAGR of 24.4% for 2012-2017," it aded.
The current crop of smartwatches have been criticized as difficult to use and not much to look at. The so-called smartwatches all come with similar offerings such as the ability to read messages and emails and to answer and make calls. In terms of app development, smartwatches are still pretty much lingering in limbo. However, this is expected to change as companies are bringing more resources into the fray in their effort to produce the first commercially successful smartwatch.
