Is The Wearables Trend Over?

By Katie Wike, contributing writer

A recent report notes consumer demand for wearables has significantly decreased since the beginning of 2015.

In January this year, the wearables market reached its high point/ But since then, demand has been continuously decreasing. According to a report by Argus Insights, the post-holiday peak was preceded by steady growth.

MobiHealth News reports the wearables market has grown overall in the last 18 months, however since the beginning of this year demand for wearable devices—fitness bands, smartwatches, smart glasses, and other sensor-enabled devices—has decreased.

“Our analysis of review volume for the wearables market correlates directly with unit sales volume, and we have seen a significant slowing in consumer demand for both wearables in general and fitness bands in particular,” said John Feland, CEO and founder, Argus Insights.

“Consumers expect their wearables to do more than simply count steps, just as they expect to do more than just make phone calls with their handsets. It is clear that as the Apple Watch, the Moto 360, and the LG Watch Urbane outperform fitness bands in the hearts of consumers. Fitbit and others in this category will need to add more to their offerings to keep consumers engaged and coming back for more.”

According to iHealth Beat, this conclusion was based on more than 328,000 consumer reviews since the beginning of the year.

However not everyone agrees that wearables were just a fad; another recent study from the International Data Corporation found wearables sales have increased in the second quarter of 2015. According to the report, 18.1 million units of wearables shipped in Q2 2015, up from 5.6 million units in Q2 2014.