A look at the global wearables market in 2023
A look at the whole year of 2023 shows only a 1.7% increase in wearable device shipments worldwide.
Remember how everyone was crazy about wearables in 2020 and 2021? Well, following that period of frenzy, the market has slowed down a bit.
New data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) reveals a notable decline in the wearable devices market from its peak in those years, with record levels of volumes.
Despite an improvement in economic conditions, mature markets like the United States, Western Europe, and Japan witnessed declines in the last quarter of 2023 (4Q23), amounting to a slight dip of 0.9% compared to the previous year. This decline was attributed to muted demand, tough year-over-year comparisons, and inventory hangover from prior quarters.
A look at the whole year of 2023 shows only a 1.7% increase in wearable device shipments worldwide.
One notable is thing is that the hearable category remained popular, capturing 61.3% of the overall wearables market, however it experienced a decline of 0.8% year over year. This stagnation was primarily due to the early high pace of adoption, resulting in people now primarily replacing old devices rather than purchasing new ones. On the other hand, smartwatches are still on the rise increased 8.7% during the year, especially in places like India and China.
Another wearable product that is also catching on is Rings, growing 34.9% during the year. Brands like Oura and Ultrahuman saw a big jump in sales. Moreover, glasses without screens are making a comeback too, growing 128.2%, thanks to some cool new products from Amazon and Meta.
However, amidst these fluctuations, IDC predicts that wearables are still going to keep growing in 2024, with over 559 million units expected to be shipped. Looking even further ahead, it expects the market grow to 645.7 million units, by 2028.
