Apple’s wearables category is set for strong growth over the next four years, according to the latest predictions from IDC.
It says that the ‘earwear’ market – comprising headphones with smart features like Siri – is set to hit 139M shipments this year, rising to 273M shipments by the end of 2023. That would represent a cumulative annual growth rate of more than 40%…
IDC said that ‘earwear’ dominates the wearables market.
The firm doesn’t give any projected breakdown by brand, which wouldn’t in any case be particularly meaningful given the huge range of products considered here, but it’s safe to say that Apple is very comfortably positioned in the mid-range category with its range of AirPods models.
Smartwatches are the second-largest category, currently only just ahead of less sophisticated wristbands, but the trend is toward the more full-featured devices, says IDC. Here, it is clear that the Apple Watch is the market leader and is set to remain so.
Growth here is predicted to be slower, at around 16.4%.
The company also said that there is a continued downward trend in smartwatch pricing and that even Apple is applying downward price pressure.
The company recently said that in the wearables market as a whole, Apple was selling well over twice as many devices as the closest rival Xiaomi. Both the Apple Watch and AirPods were recently named by TIME as two of the best gadgets launched since 2010.
Apple’s wearables category is becoming increasingly important on the hardware side, as smartphone sales remain relatively flat.
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