• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to footer

Technologies.org

Technology Trends: Follow the Money

  • Technology Events 2025-2026
  • Sponsored Post
    • Make a Contribution
  • Technology Jobs
  • Technology Markets
  • About
    • GDPR
  • Contact

Worldwide Wearables Market to Top 300 Million Units in 2019 and Nearly 500 Million Units in 2023

December 16, 2019 By admin Leave a Comment

“Wearables started out as a device for early adopters and morphed into multiple devices for the mass market,” said Ramon T. Llamas, research director for IDC’s Wearables team. “In the process, wearables have accomplished several objectives: enable greater convenience, surface new insights, and keep the user connected in ways that other devices – even the smartphone – have been unable to do. Continued development and innovation will cater to current customers and attract new ones in the years to come.”

Continued end-user demand, proliferation of devices, and declining average selling prices will propel the worldwide wearables market in the years to come. According to the latest forecast from International Data Corporation’s (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker, the global market for wearables is on track to ship 305.2 million units in 2019, up 71.4% from the 178.0 million units shipped in 2018. From there, total volumes will grow to 489.1 million units in 2023, resulting in a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.4%.

“Underpinning the growth in the wearables market has been a drastic reduction in average selling prices,” said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC’s Mobile Device Trackers. “While companies such as Xiaomi have focused on reducing costs by commoditization, market leaders like Apple that typically focus on the premium segment are also playing a crucial role in lowering prices. With a starting price of $199 for the Series 3, Apple is bound to put pressure on other smartwatch makers to make their devices more wallet-friendly.”

Product Highlights

Accounting for the majority of shipment volumes throughout our forecast is earwear, which is set to reach 139.4 million units this year and nearly double to 273.7 million units in 2023. For an earworn device to be considered a wearable by IDC’s definition, it must offer functionality beyond audio, like a smart assistant, health and fitness tracking, or audio experience enhancement. Already, multiple vendors have capitalized on this emerging trend with devices that span the product spectrum, from truly wireless earbuds to full over-the-ear headphones, and a wide range of prices, from as little as $50 to several hundreds of dollars.

69.3 million smartwatches will ship in 2019 and total volumes will reach 109.2 million units worldwide in 2023. Apple’s watchOS will remain in front throughout our forecast by a wide margin and function as the measuring stick against which all other smartwatch platforms are compared. Still, there is room for other platforms to grow: Android will have a strong following with kid-focused smartwatches; Samsung’s Tizen will cater to Samsung smartphone owners with features rivaling watchOS; and Google’s WearOS will benefit from having the longest list of hardware partners and the addition of Fitbit OS’s health and fitness capabilities.

Wristbands will experience slower growth (6.7% CAGR) compared to the rest of the market but will maintain a steady presence throughout our forecast. Thanks to a combination of lower prices, a simple and straightforward value proposition, and deployment among corporate wellness programs, wristbands will enjoy a place in the wearables market, even as smartwatches gain salience.

Worldwide Wearables Forecast by Product Category, including Shipments, Market Share, and 2019-2023 CAGR (shipments in millions)

Product

2019
Shipments*

2019
Market
Share*

2023
Shipments*

2023
Market
Share*

Five-Year
CAGR

Earwear

139.4

45.7%

273.7

56.0%

41.3%

Smartwatches

69.3

22.7%

109.2

22.3%

16.4%

Wristbands

68.2

22.4%

69.7

14.3%

6.7%

Other

28.2

9.2%

36.5

7.5%

11.9%

Total

305.2

100.0%

489.1

100.0%

22.4%

Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker, December 16, 2019

* Note: All figures represent forecast data.

Source: IDC

Filed Under: Tech Tagged With: Wearables Market

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Footer

Recent Posts

  • Adobe Introduces LLM Optimizer to Help Brands Navigate the Generative AI Shift
  • Why Visa and Mastercard Stocks Slipped After the Stablecoin News
  • iOS 26: The Most Personal, Intelligent, and Private iPhone Experience Yet
  • Postman Unveils Agentic AI Tooling to Operationalize API-Driven Intelligence
  • AM Batteries Opens New Facility in Billerica to Advance U.S. Battery Supply Chain
  • Meibel Secures $7 Million to Revolutionize AI Runtime Management
  • Tailor Raises $14 Million to Redefine ERP for Modern Businesses with Composable Architecture
  • Intel Unveils New GPUs and AI Accelerators at Computex 2025
  • Unlocking Critical Minerals: USGS Invites States to Turn Mine Waste into Treasure
  • Blacksmith Reimagines Continuous Integration with AI-Optimized Infrastructure

Media Partners

  • Market Analysis
  • Cybersecurity Market
China’s Strategic Shift to RISC-V: Market Implications and Growth Prospects
Understanding Transfer Pricing: A Key Component of Multinational Business Operations
A Comprehensive Tour of Project Management Tools and Integration Platforms
Implementing Odoo ERP in a Small Manufacturing Enterprise: Costs and Considerations
Economic Optimism Meets Uncertainty: Blue Chip Indicators Highlight Post-Election Fiscal Concerns and AI’s Looming Impact
The Future of Connectivity: Insights from Ericsson’s November 2024 Mobility Report
Platinum Market Faces Sustained Deficit Amidst Strong Demand and Constrained Supply
Breaking Beijing’s Grip: U.S. and Australia Unite Against China’s Rare Earth Monopoly
Global AI-Powered Accounting and Audit Services Market Analysis 2023-2030: Growth, Trends, and Forecast
The Re-Emergence of PHP
Passwork Achieves ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Certification, Reinforcing Commitment to Enterprise Security
Halo Security Honored with 2025 MSP Today Product of the Year Award
Cloudflare Log Explorer: A Unified Security and Performance Lens Within the Dashboard
The Rising Tide: AI and Cybersecurity Challenges Loom Large for CISOs
Arsen Launches AI-Powered Vishing Simulation to Help Organizations Combat Voice Phishing at Scale
Cyera Raises $540M to Cement Its Role as AI’s Data Security Backbone
ZeroRISC Secures $10M to Build Transparent, Secure Supply Chains
Cisco Fuses AI Security Into the Network Fabric: A Unified Vision for the Agentic Era
Guardz Raises $56M Series B to Scale AI-Native Cybersecurity Platform for MSPs and SMBs
Horizon3.ai’s $100M Bet on Autonomous Security

Media Partners

  • Market Research Media
  • Technology Conferences
The Rise of Headless Content Frameworks in Distributed Media Projects
Developing Web Projects: From Concept to Launch
The Rise of APS-C Cameras: A Professional Renaissance in Photography
Market Brief: Disruption in Spanish Orange Supply Chain and Strategic Response by UK Retailers
Global AI-Powered Movie Scenario Market Analysis 2023-2030: Growth, Trends, and Forecast
Market Research Report: US Government Cybersecurity Market in 2024
Market Research Report: Global Advertising Revenue Projections and Trends in the Entertainment & Media Industry
Social Media: The Rise of Formulaic Content
Netflix’s Creative Decline: The Rise of Formulaic Content
The Transformation of Media: Navigating the Waning Allure of Social Platforms
Apple Announces WWDC25, June 9 to 13, 2025
Adobe Summit 2025, March 17-20, Las Vegas
Embedded World 2025, from 11 to 13 March 2025 in Nuremberg
SATELLITE 2025: Uniting the Global Satellite and Space Communities
The milestone 10th edition of Chatbot Summit on March 31 – April 1, 2025, The Ritz-Carlton, Berlin
Snowflake Summit 2025, scheduled for June 2-5, 2025, in San Francisco
The NVIDIA GPU Technology Conference (GTC) 2025 is set to take place from March 17 to 21 at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California
The Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center is set to host COMPUTEX 2025 from May 20 to May 23
The Mobile World Congress (MWC 2025) will kick off from March 3 to 6 in Barcelona, Spain
IOT Solutions World Congress 2025: Forging the Future of Industrial Innovation

Copyright © 2022 Technologies.org

Media Partners: Market Analysis & Market Research and Exclusive Domains