The rapid growth in wearables sales couldn't continue forever. After peaking around the holidays last year, sales of the now-ubiquitous health trackers has slowed significantly, according to a new report from Argus Insights.
Data from 328,000 consumer reviews showed that buying trends mirrored those of the previous year, with interest in wearables peaking during the holiday season and then declining dramatically. The good news for the industry is that the demand in January 2015 was four times the level of the previous year.
The report also suggested that consumers briefly lost interest in popular wearables after Apple announced plans to unveil its ground-breaking watch in September of last year. Apparently, interest returned in time for the holidays, likely because the details that emerged about the Apple Watch — from cost to capabilities — did not necessarily present a desirable alternative to more narrowly-focused fitness and health products.
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But in the nine months since the holidays, consumer reviews have revealed a worrying trend for fitness wearables. Consumer "delight" in the products, which Argus defines based on the volume and content of user reviews, has declined, while it has increased for smartwatches. Wearable manufacturers may not have much time to add other capabilities to their products before consumers abandon them for the more comprehensive smartwatches.
"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," said Argus CEO John Feland. "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."
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