Ernesto Ramirez

January 14, 2015

In our work supporting users and makers of Quantified Self tools we pay close attention to how others talk about trends and markets. In the past year, the most-used catch all term for devices that help us track ourselves has been “wearables.” Now, it’s clear that wearables covers only a fraction of QS practices. Many of the ways people are using numbers, computing, and technology to learn about themselves do not involve wearing anything special. However, the term is useful to us in following relevant research. Below you’ll find links to last year’s best reporting on the wearables market, gathered into a single post for easy reference.

Pew Research Center (January 2013)

The most important work in this space remains the Tracking for Health report from the Pew Research Center, which found that 69% of adults track their health or the health of others, and that 21% of those who track use technology.
Link: QS Analysis of the Pew Research Center Tracking for Health

Forrester, January 2013
A report about the market for fitness wearables “like the Nike+ Fuelband and Jawbone UP” predicts that 8 million US online will be purchasing such devices.
Link: Fitness Wearables — Many Products, Few Customers

Nike, August 2013
Announces in a press release for their “Just Do it” campaign that they have over “18 million global” members of their Nike+ ecosystem.
Link: Nike Redefines “Just Do It” With New Campaign

CCS Insight, October 2013
Surveyed over 700 adults in both the UK and US. They found smart watch adoption was low with only 1.3% of adults (both countries) currently owning and using one and 1.5% no longer using (had owned). For “Wearable Fitness Trackers” they found 2.3% currently owned and used one and 1.2% no longer use it.
Link: User Survey: Wearables UK and US

Endeavor Partners, January 2014 (Part 1)
A survey of “thousands of Americans” completed in late 2013 found that 10% own an activity tracker. Activity trackers were most popular with younger adults (25–34 years) when compared to other age groups. They found that 50% of individuals who have owned an activity tracker no longer use it and one third stopped using it within six months.
Link: Inside Wearables

IDC, March 2014
“This IDC study presents the five-year forecast for the worldwide wearable computing devices market by product category. The worldwide wearable computing devices market (commonly referred to as “wearables”) will reach a total of 19.2 million units in 2014”
Link: Worldwide Wearable Computing Device 2014–2018 Forecast and Analysis

Nielsen, March 2014
A survey conducted in late 2013 of 3,956 adults found that 15% currently “use wearable tech—such as smart watches and fitness bands—in their daily lives.” Device ownership leaned heavily toward “fitness bands” with 61% of wearable technology users reporting ownership. This was followed by smart watches (45%), and mobile health devices (17%).
Link: Are Consumers Really Interested in Wearing Tech on their Sleeves?

Rock Health, June 2014
“While the activity tracker segment has about 1-2% U.S. penetration, wearables overall are expected to grow significantly”
Link: The Future of Biosensing Wearables

Endeavor Partners, July 2014 (Part 2)
As of June 2014, they found that the percentage of adult consumers that still wear and use their activity tracker has improved with 88% still wearing it after three months, 77% after 3–6 months, 66% after 6–13 months, and 65% after a year. They also found that majority of respondents (1,024 of 1,700 surveyed) reported obtaining their divide within the last six months
Inside Wearables – Part 2

PWC, October 2014
“21% of American adults already own a wearable device” They also found in their survey of 1,000 adults that 2% no longer use it, 2% wear it a few times per month, 7% wear it a few times a week, and 10% use it everyday.
Links: The Wearable Future, Health Wearables: Early Days

Acquity Group, November 2014
A survey of 2,000 US consumers found that 13% plan to purchase as wearable fitness device with in the next year, and 33% within the next five years. Additionally, smart clothing is on slower trajectory with 3% planning to purchase in the next year and 14% in the next five years.
Link: The Internet of Things: The Future of Consumer Adoption

Gartner, November 2014
Gartner forecasts that worldwide shipments for “wearable electronic devices for fitness” will reach 68 million units in 2015, a slight decrease from the forecasts from 2014 and 2013 (70.2 and 73 million units, respectively). Additionally, according to Angela McIntyre, Gartner has found that “20 million online adults in the U.S. own and use a fitness wristband or other activity monitor and that 5.7% of online adults in the U.S. own and use a fitness wristband.”
Link: Forecast: Wearable Electronic Devices for Fitness, Worldwide, 2014

Berg Insight, December 2014
This is a market research report that states “fitness and activity trackers is the largest product category” and shipments are forecasted to reach 42 million units in 2019. Smart watches are predicted to reach 90 million units.
Link: Connected Wearables

Accenture, January 2015
Using a survey of 24,000 individuals across 24 countries Accenture found that 8% currently own a “Fitness Wearable”. Furthermore, they found that 12% plan to purchase in the next year, 17% in the next 1–3 years, and 11% in the next 2–5 years.
Link: Engaging the Digital Consumer in the New Connected World

Global Web Index, January 2015
In their Q3 2014 Device Summary report, GWI labeled wearable devices as “highly niche” after finding that 7% of US online adults own a “smart wristband” (Nike Fuelband, Jawbone Up, Adidas miCoach) and 9% own a smart watch.
Link: GWI Device Summary – Q3 2014

Rocket Fuel, January 2015
A survey of 1,262 US adult consumers conducted in December of 2014 found that 31% currently use a QS tool to track their health and fitness. This includes apps, devices, and websites. More specifically, 16% use a wearable device and 29% use a website or app not associated with a wearable device to track health and fitness.
Link: “Quantified Self” Digital Tools