WHERE IS WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY GOING

130m US$8bnWearable technology Eyewear The size of the wearable technology market is set to grow.. Growing into it Commissioned by © The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2014 On trend or f

130m US$8bn

Wearable technology

Eyewear

The size of the wearable

technology market is set to

grow Yet it is still very

small compared to other

parts of the wearables and

technology universe.

Growing into it

Commissioned by

© The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2014

On trend or fashion faux pas?

1.84bn

Smartphones (inc phablets)

18%

5 year annual growth rate (2013-18)

Jewellery

Clothing and footwear

2018

FORECASTS

The Internet

of everyone

50bn

No of

Internet-connected devices

by 2020

World population

7.5bn

US$22.8 World retail sales tn

Retro styles Watches

© The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2014

Health

Fashion

Where is wearable technology going?

Growth opportunities in wearable technology are attracting new market entrants to an old industry (see right)

But existing businesses and consumers are already discarding some products.

1/3

On trend or fashion faux pas?

Incoming

Old New

Outgoing

Batteries not included

THE LOOKING GLASS

Pocket watch invented, 16th century

Google X launches smart contact lens to help diabetics, 2014

Richard Nicoll shows 'Tinkerbell' dress at London Fashion Week, 2014

First wearable pacemaker fitted, 1958

LA Gear launches L.A Lights 1992

US consumers with a

wearable technology

device bought it in

the last 6 months

US consumers stop wearing smart devices within 12 months of purchase

Apple Watch unveiled, 2014

60%

Fuelband

NIKE

Sportswear firm is exiting hardware to focus on software

Headphones with built

in sensors to monitor heart rate

SMS Audio Biosport

INTEL

Commissioned by

Making wearables work for you

© The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2014 Sources: The Economist Intelligence Unit; Endeavour Partners; Marketsandmarkets; IDC; GeoHive; Cisco

Where is wearable technology going?

Batteries not included

Back to start

SOCIAL FABRIC

Built environment

Wi-Fi backscatter, developed by the University

of Washington, runs battery-free devices on energy harnessed from existing radio, TV and wireless signals

Harnessing Bodies

Trend spotting

Power Felt, developed by Wake Forest University in the US, is a fabric that generates electricity from the warmth of body heat

BP is issuing FitBit devices and rewards to past and present North American employees as part of its staff wellness programme

Salesforce offers a 'developer pack' to assist companies create apps that engage with customers via wearable devices

Start-up TicTrac provides

a single platform for syncing, tracking and anlysing all personal data from multiple devices

Both Google Glass and the Apple

Watch must be recharged every

12 hours For the sector to

really take off, a new

source of power

is needed.

Lithium-ion batteries

found in wearable

technology devices have

been on sale since 1991

Performance has gradually

improved but it may now be

reaching its practical limit

claim researchers at the

University of California,

Berkeley

“The sector is shifting beyond external

wearables like wristbands or clip-on devices to

‘body-adapted’ electronics that further push the

ever-shifting boundary between humans and

technology.”

World Economic Forum, Top 10 Emerging Technologies 2014

Scientists

are looking beyond the battery Technology is being developed so that devices can "run" off their

surroundings

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