Where is wearable technology going? View this infographic to find out.

1. WATCH OUT! Where is wearable
technology going?
Wearable technology
Units (2018) Value (2018)
130m US$8bn
What's in the
wardrobe?
Eyewear
Growing into it
The size of the wearable
technology market is set to
grow. Yet it is still very
small compared to other
parts of the wearables and
technology universe.
5 year annual
growth rate
(2013-18)
Commissioned by
Smartphones (inc. phablets)
© The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2014
On trend or fashion
faux pas?
2018FORECASTS
The Internet
of everyone
Clothing and footwear
1.84bn
Units (2018) Value (2018) 5 year annual growth rate (2013-18)
33% 4%
Clothing
18%
Jewellery
US$1.06tn
50bn No. of Internet-connected
devices
by 2020
World
population 7.5bn
US$22.8tn
World retail sales

2. Retro styles
Watches
© The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2014
Health
Fashion
Where is wearable
technology going?
Growth opportunities in wearable technology are attracting new market entrants to an old industry (see right).
But existing businesses and consumers are already discarding some products.
1/3
On trend or fashion faux pas?
Incoming
Old New
Outgoing
Batteries not
included
THE LOOKING GLASS
Pocket watch
invented,
16th century
Google X
launches smart
contact lens to
help diabetics,
2014
Richard Nicoll
shows 'Tinkerbell'
dress at London
Fashion Week,
2014
First
wearable
pacemaker
fitted, 1958
LA Gear
launches
L.A Lights
1992
US consumers with a
wearable technology
device bought it in
the last 6 months
US consumers stop
wearing smart devices
within 12 months of
purchase
Apple Watch
unveiled,
2014
60%
NIKE
Fuelband
Sportswear firm is
exiting hardware to
focus on software
INTEL
SMS Audio Biosport
Headphones with built
in sensors to monitor
heart rate
Commissioned by

3. Making wearables
work for you
Where is wearable
technology going?
© The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2014 Sources: The Economist Intelligence Unit; Endeavour Partners;
Marketsandmarkets; IDC; GeoHive; Cisco
Batteries not included
Back to start
SOCIAL FABRIC
Harnessing Bodies
Built environment
Wi-Fi backscatter,
developed by the University
of Washington, runs
battery-free devices on
energy harnessed from
existing radio, TV and
wireless signals
Trend spotting
Power Felt, developed by
Wake Forest University in
the US, is a fabric that
generates electricity from
the warmth of body heat
BP is issuing FitBit
devices and rewards to
past and present North
American employees as
part of its staff wellness
programme
Salesforce offers a
'developer pack' to assist
companies create apps
that engage with customers
via wearable devices
Start-up TicTrac provides
a single platform for
syncing, tracking and
anlysing all personal data
from multiple devices
Both Google Glass and the Apple
Watch must be recharged every
12 hours. For the sector to
really take off, a new
source of power
is needed.
Lithium-ion batteries
found in wearable
technology devices have
been on sale since 1991.
Performance has gradually
improved but it may now be
reaching its practical limit
claim researchers at the
University of California,
Berkeley
“The sector is shifting beyond external
wearables like wristbands or clip-on devices to
‘body-adapted’ electronics that further push the
ever-shifting boundary between humans and
technology.”
World Economic Forum, Top 10 Emerging Technologies 2014
Scientists
are looking beyond the
battery. Technology is being
developed so that devices
can "run" off their
surroundings
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