At the beginning of the month, Apple had its annual keynote for the next generation of iPhones and included the official announcement of the latest Apple product: the Apple Watch .
Now, the Apple Watch is by no means innovative as a concept. Since the first digital watch, the Pulsar , was manufactured in 1972 the concept of placing advanced technology in watches was really just a matter of time, and progress in nanotechnology.
Avi Greengart , a consumer device analyst from Current Analysis, claimed 2013 as the Year of the Smartwatch. The reason being that components have gotten small and cheap enough to produce for products to be made for mass distribution at a relatively affordable price point. This year also marked the point where many consumers owned smartphones that were compatible with a wearable device.
Source: Apple This year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) showcased a large number of new smartwatches. Later in the year even more were showcased at Google I/O , introducing the LG G Watch and the Samsung Gear Live . Earlier this month one of the most recent releases, the Moto 360 was announced.
These most recent iterations of smartwatches are only one aspect of wearable technology. Many other devices exist today that consumers are very interested in playing with, such as Google Glass and Pivothead . And interesting new technology devices such as Thalmic Labs’ Myo , a gesture control armband that you can calibrate to do many things with.
The Demand for Wearable Tech on a Steady Rise GlobalWebIndex released some interesting statistics on consumer trends for wearable devices. The most intereting of which are follows:
71% of 16- to 24-year-olds want to own some form of wearable technology (i.e. Smart watch, smart band, or Google Glass) Worldwide, 64% of internet users have worn a piece of wearable tech already or are “keen to do so in the future.” Between the genders, men sit at 69%, while women are marginally lower at just over half (56%) in terms of wantring to own a wearable tech device What Does this Mean for Logistics? Despite the slow growth, this demand in wearable technology means more business and demand for logistics services. It will be interesting to see how much wearable technology will affect the overall growth in logistics in the coming years.
Tech analysts from Canalys have predicted that smart bracelets, such as Intel’s Mica smart bracelet for example, which monitors health and sleep patterns as well as providing purchasing capabilities, are going to be a big hit. Smart band sales are predicted to increase 129% in sales next year. More than 42 million of these smart band devices are predicted to be sold globally.
Tech-based start-ups are now seeing real value in investing into projects that are tangible as opposed to web- or app- related services. An exciting trend for both consumers and those responsible for moving the goods.
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