Wearables such as fitness trackers and smartwatches are making inroads in the consumer market. A recent report expects that the overall wearable computer market will top 235 million units by 2020. Tractica, a market research firm, expects that enterprise wearables is also poised for substantial growth over the next few years.
Defined as wearables used in a corporate setting, they are “typically customized for a particular task or workflow and generally provided by the employer.” They include everything from smartwatches and smartglasses to smart clothing, body sensors and wearable cameras.
The firm predicts that enterprise wearable shipments will jump from 166,000 units in 2013 to 27.5 million in 2020. Revenues will grow from US$14 million to US$6.3 billion in that same period. In so doing, the market share of enterprise and industrial wearables will jump from 1% of overall wearables revenues to 17%.
Factors driving adoption of wearables include hands-free capabilities and improvements to industrial workflows. For example, smart glasses can be used to display manuals and diagrams to guide a worker through a complex process. They can also be used to capture video and photos simultaneously, providing a first-person view that can be shared with others when requesting some help or delivering training.
Tractica also identifies possible challenges to the adoption of enterprise wearables. Privacy issues, both for the employee and for the company itself, top the list. Safety would certainly be another as electronic equipment is introduced into hazardous chemical environments like oil rigs.
Tractica concludes that the consumer wearables market will remain the larger one but suggests that the industrial space offers its own opportunities for companies to “innovate and solve key business problems.” Companies that enter this space sooner will likely gain the experience and track record that will give them an advantage over players entering the space later.
Source : Tractica (PDF)