The analyst firm IDC has predicted that we will continue to see flat sales of wearables in the third and fourth quarter as a strengthening U.S. dollar makes it more difficult to buy these devices in local currencies around the world. While 2022 looks grim for companies, IDC says that 2023 will be a better year as people in mature markets look to replace their gadgets and people in developing countries come on board.
Commenting on the situation of companies this year, Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers, said:
“It's unfortunate that companies like Apple, Samsung, and Google are in the midst of launching more premium smartwatches at a time when appetite for high priced products remains in question. And even though pricing on some new products remains the same as the previous generation, the strength of the US dollar makes the purchase more difficult in local currencies around the world.”
Wearables, according to IDC, includes ear wear, watches, wristbands, and others. In the second quarter, watches saw some growth but wristbands and others fell sharply while ear wear stayed flat. Next year during the same period, everything is expected to grow except wristbands which will see much less of a decline than this year.
In terms of the companies that are selling these products, the top five players haven’t changed. The list consists of Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei, and Imagine Marketing. Unfortunately, four of these companies experienced year-over-year declines during the second quarter.
1 Comment - Add comment