While fitness trackers dominated the wearable market last year, smartwatches are estimated to contribute a bigger share of the revenue this year.
According to Gartner, smartwatches are estimated to contribute US$11.5 billion of revenue this year which is about 40% of the total sales revenue generated from wearable devices. Overall, sales of wearable devices are expected to grow 18.4% in 2016.
"From 2015 through 2017, smartwatch adoption will have 48 percent growth largely due to Apple popularizing wearables as a lifestyle trend. Smartwatches have the greatest revenue potential among all wearables through 2019, reaching $17.5 billion," said Angela McIntyre, research director at Gartner.
Gartner believes smartwatches have more appeal with consumers as they provide more features than the typical fitness trackers. Head-mounted displays (HMDs) are also likely to gain mass adoption thanks to the introduction of HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Sony PlayStation VR and other VR devices.
Source: Gartner
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