Apple Watch future is bright as U.S. smartwatch sales seen primed for surge

New research from Parks Associates indicates smartwatch adoption has nearly doubled, from 4% of U.S. broadband households at the start of 2014 to 7% now, with 10% planning to buy a smart watch by midyear 2016. The research firm will discuss its latest consumer research on wearables, the smart home, and the connected consumer at CONNECTIONS™ Summit: IoT, Entertainment, and the Connected Consumer at CES 2016, January 6-7 in Las Vegas.

“The wearables market is growing strong, and their unique form factors will help drives sales for the holidays,” said Harry Wang, Director, Health and Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates. “Smartwatches are particularly popular among broadband households with children. Eleven percent of U.S. broadband households with children have a smartwatch, and 16% plan to buy one by midyear 2016. The smartwatch has significant connected health applications, but family-oriented use cases will also help grow and maintain the device’s popularity.”

Parks Associates notes that design, fashion, and personalization are also important elements as smartwatch vendors push for greater mainstream adoption of smartwatches. The research firm will address how wearable innovations are impacting multiple sectors within the connected home, including health-based services and smart home systems, during the session “Wearables: Healthcare, IoT, and Smart Home Use Cases” on January 6 at 10:30-11:45 a.m.

Source: Parks Associates

MacDailyNews Take: This Christmas day, millions of new Apple Watches will come online, begin communicating and, most importantly, go out into the world to be seen by the have-nots as advertisements in action. The intent to buy will increase right along with, and driven in large part by, adoption. Apple Watch 2, assuming Apple can manage to have enough ready for a proper launch (big assumption, these days; fingers crossed), will really kick the smartwatch market into high gear!