Gartner predicts average price of Android smartwatches to be around $30 in 2015

The global smartwatch market is poised to take off, accounting for 40% of the consumer watch market share by 2016.

Gartner analysts also predict that the average retail price of Android smartwatches will be $30 in 2015 as OEMs capture a large consumer market in China and internationally.

Gartner analysts believe that compared with only two wearable technology suppliers last year, more than 90% of smartphone suppliers have entered the wearable technology market or have launched their first product.

Angela Mdntyre, research director at Gartner, believes that Apple has finally released the Apple Watch, and she predicts that it will create a boom once it goes on sale in 2015.

“Apple has released three smartwatches, and the price range will vary widely, starting at $349,” she said.

"Like the iPhone, Apple's premium pricing strategy will limit the watch's market share; however, given its focus on design and user interface, we think the product will attract many users."

Gartner analyst Annette Zimmerman believes that Sony's smartwatch products and Samsung Gear received a lot of media attention as early products, but they failed to gain favor with consumers due to their unclear product value positioning and flawed designs.

“In 2014, we saw improvements in design and user experience (UX), so we expect consumers to have more interest in these products in the second half of the year.”

She thinks the latest smartwatches are a big step up from earlier models in terms of design, as well as the innovative features offered by Android Wear, including voice search, full voice-activated navigation, ambient reminders and voice notes — essentially a Google Now experience on a small screen.

A recent consumer study conducted by Gartner in the third quarter of 2014 pointed out that people are currently using wearable fitness devices and professional sports watches.

The results show that fitness bands and "other fitness trackers" are more representative of U.S. households than sports watches.

There is still a lot of room for growth and the “quantified self” trend will boost the adoption of these devices in the coming years.

However, despite the growing interest in the market, there are still some hurdles to overcome and suppliers need to consider with their products.

In recent tests, different models of smartwatches and fitness bands reduced the battery life of smartphones. This reduced the life of the product and the phone by 2-8 hours. A smartphone running for a day and a half before needing to be recharged is not ideal for most users of smartphones with non-removable batteries.

That's a testament to the device, which is rated for 5 or 6 days of battery life.

However, as consumers continue to add various gadgets that need to be charged to their homes, this has become a burden.

Zimmerman believes that we are seeing two opposing trends in the market regarding form factor evolution.

"On the one hand, suppliers continue to provide small smart wearable devices with watch-like functions," she said.

“On the other hand, in the last 6-9 months, we’ve seen vendors release products that are similar to the early fitness bands, but with displays that add important features like messaging and call alerts.”

Chinese ODMs and semiconductor suppliers have begun targeting the next generation of consumers. A large number of local Chinese suppliers have released fitness wristbands, putting a lot of pressure on established suppliers such as Fitbit and Jawbone.

Although these suppliers are currently focused on the domestic market, they will eventually turn to international expansion.

McIntry believes that the products of Chinese suppliers are very similar to various models of products from other suppliers in terms of functions, operating systems, connectivity and sensor options.

"In 2015, international expansion will accelerate, and against this backdrop, we expect several Chinese vendors to create more products on Android Wear in parallel."

“Of course, they will face the same design challenges as international suppliers, but we also believe they will take advantage of an advantage they have in the smartphone and tablet markets: the cost advantages of the Chinese supply chain ecosystem.”

“Chinese vendors may bring better designs and sensors to Android Wear based smartwatches at a low price (around $30) – driving mass market adoption.”

199IT original compilation