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Africa and Middle East expect wearable market growth in 2017 says IDC

The International Data Corporation says that in 2017 the African and Middle Eastern regions will see growth in the wearable market.

This prediction comes to us from the IDC’s study of the wearable market in the aforementioned regions for Q3 of 2016.

For that period wearables grew 38.3% year on year in the regions with low-cost wearables leading that charge and growing 55.9% year on year compared to smart wearables which only grew 4.1% year on year.

A senior research analyst at IDC, Nakul Dogra says that the reason for this sharp contrast in growth is easily explained. “Buyers for smart wearables are limited as the main application for these devices is fitness, which is an area that basic wearables also cater for at a much lower cost,” says Dogra.

As for 2017 IDC expects the wearable market to grow a further 22% with new gadgets for your ears and clothing, amongst other tech, being the carrot that will get consumers to spend money.

The IDC goes on to say that for wearables to really take off there needs to be great homogeneity across devices. “There should also be efforts to create an ecosystem of gadgets so that these devices can interact with each other and freely exchange information,” says the IDC. “There are already signs of some consolidation taking place in the industry, both in terms of vendors and operating systems. with Fitbit’s buyout of Pebble representing a clear step in this direction.”

Are you hoping to get a wearable under the tree this festive season? If you’re looking for something awesome why not take a gander at our review of Samsung’s Gear Fit2; our own Clinton Matos rather enjoyed his time with it.

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