Juniper Research has found that despite the fall in the number of high-end smartwatches, hybrid watches still seem to remain unaffected by market reduction.
Although basic smartwatches are expected to account for around 30 percent of the current market value, this share is expected to grow to almost 40 percent in the next five years, according to Juniper.
It is also anticipated that less than 60 million smartwatches are to be shipped annually by 2021, disregarding the fact that no must-have use cases have been seen to emerge for multifunctional smartwatches.
Juniper’s research, ‘Smartwatches Trends, Vendor Strategies and Forecasts 2017-2021’, found that as the high-end multifunctional smartwatch market sees a decrease in pace, vendors are likely to refine or remover unpopular functionalities leading to a stronger focus on fitness and health.
Multifunctional smartwatches are seen to be the most visible smartwatch category, but due to the change in initial interest, the segment varies.
The sector is noticeably addressed to companies such as Apple, Samsung and Fitbit, which have individually shown an interest in the smartwatch market.
Fitbit, fitness tracker provider, has significantly been one to soar in the smartwatch market with its previous release of two new fitness trackers towards the end of 2016.
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The company also recently acquired smartwatch startup, Vector, which puts it in a race of competition between big companies such as Apple and Samsung.
Research author James Moar said: “Now that the initial smartwatch buzz is over, a longer product lifecycle and sluggish adoption are responsible for the slowing market, as users do not regularly upgrade.”
Revenue forecast estimates that there will be an average decline of 0.6 percent in device prices over the forecast period, while multifunctional smartwatches will take the biggest hits as demand falls and prices drop in response.
The slow progress in the smartwatch market also saw Fitbit acquire Pebble, another wearables provider which was seen to hold a high market share, according to IDC Q3 2016 research.
The research found that the smartwatch market is to see a 30.6 percent growth over the next five years, which could reach a total of 34.1 percent market share in 2020.
