Mar 29, 2024 | Updated: 11:35 AM EDT

Google's Market in Android Wearables

Mar 10, 2014 11:07 AM EDT

Google's Market in Android Wearables are comprised of 61% of smartwatches as of last year. The Samsung Galaxy Gear gained the majority of Android smartwatch shipments. Other popular wearables included Pebble’s smartwatch, HTV, Sony and Qualcomm. Wearables are also expected to bring to market from makers Lenovo, ZTE and Huawei. Google’s competitor Apple is expected to deliver smartwatches this year.

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"Coming into 2014, there's a lot of innovation around delivery of content and services, form factor, and monetization in content services and devices. We have an exploding trend in the Internet of Things, and we're seeing a lot of attention on the consumer side of wearable technologies, home automation, and control and in the automotive space. It's going to be an exciting year for consumer technology," said Jonathan Gaw, research manager for IDC's Connected Consumer program.

Google’s recent deal with Samsung does indicate positive outlook for the Android wearable market. Google and Samsung’s deal from earlier this year included a cross-license deal for future and existing patents over the course of the next 10 year. The focus is aimed at innovation. This will also bring opportunities for future technologies such as wearables and expanding on collaboration in R&D.

ABI Research segments the wearable technology market into seven sections: wearable cameras, smart clothing, smart glasses, healthcare, sports and activity trackers, wearable 3D motion trackers, and smartphone compatible watches. “The sports and activity tracker segment was the first to pop, with 32 million devices shipping in 2013 alone, but we expect to see rapid growth from smart watch, smart glass, segments in 2014,” said Josh Flood, analyst with ABI Research. “Bluetooth will be the primary connectivity technology for wearable computing devices, and Bluetooth Smart will play a key role in the device category’s success in the future.”

Today’s wearable devices integrate lifestyle and technology. New and fresh technologies will be the contributing factor to this, thanks to the future entrepreneurs and innovators. The performance and speed which is offered through Android devices are a significant factor for new wearable technology adoptions.

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