LAS VEGAS — Smartwatches have been getting lots of buzz over the past year, as companies like Samsung and Sony have released their first products. But they remain a very small part of the technology landscape, for now.
That was one of the takeaways from a briefing this afternoon by Shawn DuBravac, Chief Economist at Consumer Electronics Association, in advance of the 2014 International CES in Las Vegas.
DuBravac said that the global smartwatch market will grow to 1.5 million shipments during 2014, with the U.S. market increasing to one million.
That’s a far cry from the worldwide smartphone market, which surpassed one billion shipments in 2013.
“This is a very nascent market,” DuBravac said of smartwatches. “We’re still looking for that killer application for that particular type of device.”
DuBravac added that while it is becoming cheaper to manufacture wearable devices, it’s unclear as to which use cases will evolve from products like smartwatches.
That’s partially how I felt when I tried out Samsung’s Galaxy Gear — smartwatches really do have the potential to be the “next big thing,” but they are clearly not there yet.
You can check out DuBravac’s presentation slides here, which address other technology trends like 4K TVs, sensors, flexible displays and connected cars and homes — all of which will be shown off at CES this year.
We’ll be here at CES covering events over the next few days, so stay tuned for more from Las Vegas.
