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A new forecast from IDC estimates that 72.1 million wearable devices will be shipped in 2015, which will be a growth of 173.3 per cent compared to last year.
"The demand for basic wearables, those that do not run third party apps, has been absolutely astounding," said Jitesh Ubrani, senior research analyst, Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers.
"Vendors like Fitbit and Xiaomi have helped propel the market with their sub-$100 bands, and IDC expects this momentum will continue throughout 2015."
Ubrani said he expects smart wearables, those capable of running third party apps, to take the lead in 2016: "Smart wearables like the Apple Watch and Microsoft’s Hololens are indicative of an upcoming change in computing, and the transition from basic to smart wearables opens up a slew of opportunities for vendors, app developers, and accessory makers."
Ramon Llamas, research manager, Wearables, added: "Growth in the smart wearables market points to an emerging battleground among competing platforms.
"Android Wear, Tizen, and WatchOS are moving ahead with improved user interfaces, user experiences, and applications. These will raise the expectations of what a smart wearable can do, and each platform is vying for best-in-class status. We’re not there yet, but we’re seeing the building blocks of what is to come."
