More and more people are equipping themselves with wearables, according to Interpret’s New Media Measure, a quarterly survey of 9,000 Americans ages 13-65. Year-over-year, from Q4 2018 to Q4 2019, Interpret’s data has revealed an increase in wearable adoption from 32% to 36%, and this trend is expected to continue.
Diving into the wearables product lines, Interpret anticipates more steady growth for the smartwatch category whereas dedicated fitness trackers should see sales flatten somewhat.
Like the mobile world, the wearables market is largely a battle between Apple and Google. The latter recently bought Fitbit for $2.1 billion, potentially making Fitbit watches “smarter” with Android and the Wear OS platform. Some have viewed Fitbit as lagging behind Apple in the watch space, but the company has done a good job converting its user base from 0% to 36% in just three years, and Google’s investment could give the product a boost. From an installed base viewpoint, Fitbit’s is 45% larger than Apple’s, but that factors in individuals owning multiple devices, such as a Fitbit tracker and watch. However, if you just count watch user base, Apple’s is twice as big as Fitbit’s.