Wearables to hit 168 million shipments by 2019, report saysDecember 22, 2014 - 14:11 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Wearables are on track to hit 168 million shipments by 2019 with the sector driven by Apple’s long-awaited entry into a segment it will eventually lead, BetaNews says. A new report from Berg Insight predicts that wearable technology shipments will hit 19 million in 2014, up from 5.9 million in 2013, before accelerating to 168.2 million by 2019 thanks to a compound annual growth rate of 54.7 percent. Fitness trackers currently lead the way in the sector with 13 million units shipped in 2014, though they face huge competition from the scores of smartwatches being launched all the time. "This product category is now facing fierce competition from smartwatches that have activity tracking features. Decreasing prices and new form factors will still enable dedicated fitness & activity trackers to reach shipments of 42.0 million units in 2019”, said Johan Svanberg, senior analyst at Berg Insight. “Smartwatches are already the second largest category of connected wearables and sales will pick up considerably in 2015. The Apple Watch will enter the market and other major smartphone vendors will launch next generation Android Wear devices". Apple’s projected dominance in the wearables sector is cemented by a separate report produced by Ipsos MediaCT. "When asked which brands Americans would consider purchasing in the wearable category, Apple [62 percent], Google [44 percent] and Samsung [43 percent] were the top three most mentioned brands. Fitness brands were also highly mentioned, with Fitbit [31 percent] ranking fourth in consideration and Nike in sixth [27 percent]", the report read, according to Wareable. The Apple Watch is still quite the guarded secret given that it has a tentative release date of Spring 2015 in the U.S. and pricing that starts at some $349. Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Baku: EU, U.S. share responsibility for Armenia’s “destabilizing actions” Azerbaijan has declared that the European Union and the United States will share responsibility for any destabilizing actions of Armenia |