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Apple To Take Lion's Share in Wearable Smart Band Segment in 2015, Total Band Shipments to Hit 43.2 Million

Apple To Take Lion's Share in Wearable Smart Band Segment in 2015, Total Band Shipments to Hit 43.2 Million Chart By Canalys

Canalys, an independent analyst company said in the release of its recent report that wearable band shipments will grow 129% year on year to reach 43.2 million units in 2015. Of these shipments, 28.2 million will be smart bands and the remaining 15.0 million will be basic bands, said Canalys.

Canalys which defines smart bands as bands which are capable of running third-party applications and basic bands, which are not, forecasts that Apple will make up the majority of smart band shipments for next year. According to Canalys, with increasing number of applications that cater for health and fitness monitoring, navigation and even mobile payments being offered on the smart bands, more people are expected to purchase these new wearables especially when the prices come down thanks to the entry of low-cost vendors such as Xiaomi (with its Mi Band) in certain markets. 

"By creating a new user interface tailored to its tiny display, Apple has a produced a smart watch that mass-market consumers will actually want to wear. The sleek software, variety of designs and reasonable entry price make for a compelling new product. Apple must still prove, however, that the final product will deliver adequate battery life for consumers.

-        Daniel Matte, Analyst, Canalys

"The basic band vendors, such as Fitbit and Jawbone, will enjoy the advantages of their lower pricing for the immediate future. Eventually, however, stronger smart band competitors to the Apple Watch will likely emerge and push smart band pricing down, threatening the basic bands. This market will undergo disruption similar to that suffered by feature phones when smart phone prices fell."

-        Chris Jones, VP and Principal Analyst, Canalys

 
 
Author

Executive Editor and Telecoms Strategist at The Fast Mode | 5G | IoT/M2M | Telecom Strategy | Mobile Service Innovations 

Tara Neal heads the strategy & editorial unit at The Fast Mode, focusing on latest technologies such as gigabit broadband, 5G, cloud-native networking, edge computing, virtualization, software-defined networking and network automation as well as broader telco segments such as IoT/M2M, CX, OTT services and network security. Tara holds a First Class Honours in BSc Accounting and Finance from The London School of Economics, UK and is a CFA charterholder from the CFA Institute, United States. Tara has over 22 years of experience in technology and business strategy, and has earlier served as project director for technology and economic development projects in various management consulting firms.

Follow Tara Neal on Twitter @taraneal11, LinkedIn @taraneal11, Facebook or email her at tara.neal@thefastmode.com.

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