While the wearables boom has so far largely been limited to wrist-worn devices, with smartwatches, sports watches and wristbands accounting for 60 percent of consumer spending last year, other categories such as ear-worn devices (e.g. Apple’s popular AirPods) are expected to gain popularity going forward.
According to a recent forecast from Gartner, global end-user spending on wearable devices is expected to nearly double between 2018 and 2021. While the smartwatch segment will remain by far the largest in terms of consumer spending, head-mounted displays are expected to make the biggest leap within the forecast period.