Smart wearables demand witnesses renewed surge

APPLE WATCHES MAY BECOME SECOND BEST-SELLING ELECTRONIC DEVICE AFTER SMARTPHONES

Retailers are seeing a renewed surge in demand for smartwatches with the new launches from Apple and Samsung.

Nilesh Khalkho, CEO of Sharaf DG, said that wearables are a growth category and are becoming mainstream.

“People not only want to buy wearables for health but they are also becoming an accessory for smartphones. Apple is definitely registering more growth, followed by Fitbit and Samsung,” he said.

Ayse Kaptanoglu, senior research analyst at market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC), said the launch of LTE supported products by Apple will have a positive impact on the consumer market. “Consumers will prefer to purchase LTE-supported watches since the functionality will be increased by just paying $20-$30 more. So the smartwatches will not be only accessories for consumers but also their essential electronic devices such as mobile phones,” she said.

Samsung doesn’t have approval for LTE yet, so, she said that this will decrease the demand even though they launched flagship product recently.

Apple eSIM watches will definitely gain more traction; she said and added that it will not be surprising if Apple Watches are expected to become the second best-selling electronic device after smartphones.

An eSIM is a digital SIM that allows users to activate a cellular plan from a carrier without having to use a physical SIM.

The SIM card on a phone allows a mobile operator to identify and authenticate a consumer, which in turn gives the consumer access to the mobile network for calls and data.

According to the analyst, the wearables market in the UAE, including basic and smart wearables, is projected to grow 2.4 per cent quarter on quarter and 5.2 per cent year on year in volume to 137,147 units in the third quarter of this year.

Smart wearables are devices that run third-party applications, while basic refers to those that can only perform specific functions and do not support third-party apps.

Kaptanoglu said that smartwatches are expected to have 40.2 per cent annual growth, on the other hand, basic wearables will have 16 per cent yearon-year decline.

Virendra Saklani/Gulf News Visitors at Gitex Shopper at the Dubai World Trade Centre yesterday. The launch of LTE supported products by Apple will have a positive impact on the consumer market, experts say.

Naushad K. Cherrayil/Gulf News Chris Sunbaigong, president of Honor Middle East and Africa, displays the Honor 8X yesterday.

Virendra Saklani/Gulf News Wearables on display at the Gitex Shopper at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

Virendra Saklani/Gulf News Visitors looking at new mobile phones on display at a stall at Gitex Shopper.

Virendra Saklani/Gulf News Sales staff lures visitors at Gitex Shopper being held at the Dubai World Trade Centre.