While wearable tech is all the rage across the globe, Africa is not being left behind, with first quarter data showing impressive growth for the African region, alongside the Middle East.
Wearable devices such as the Samsung Gear and Apple iWatch have gained traction in Africa, and the latest figures compiled by the International Data Corporation show an upward trend for the fashionable and functional accessories.
The International Data Corporation’s Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker for the first three months of 2017 illustrates that shipments of wearables were up 30.2 percent year-on-year in the Middle East and Africa, according to ITWebAfrica.
This trend flies in the face of recent data that showed a slowdown in mobile phone shipments across Africa, with smartphones particularly affected.
Mobile phone sales across the African continent fell during in the first quarter of 2017 in comparison with the fourth quarter of last year, with overall shipments of mobile phones to Africa in the first quarter amounting to around 54,5 million units, according to the International Data Corporation’s Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.
This represents a decrease of 8,2 percent versus fourth quarter data for 2016, but despite that decline, wearable tech is experiencing a growth spurt.
Shipments of basic wearable devices that do not support third-party applications increased by 16.8 percent year on year, while smart wearables that do support third-party applications were up by 64.9 percent year on year, contributing the bulk of the growth.
Samsung’s Gear S3 line of smart watches and Apple’s Series 1 and Series 2 smart watch products were particularly popular, followed by FitBit products, according to Fudzilla.
International Data Corporation analyst Nakul Dogra believes that the wearable tech market in the Middle East and Africa is in the process of evolving.
“We are seeing an evolution of the market from fitness bands to smart wearables such as watches, earwear, and clothing. IDC expects that by the end of 2021, smart wearables will account for 43 percent of total wearable shipments in the region, up from just 26 percent in 2016,” Dogra explained, according to IT-Online.
“Fashion-conscious consumers now have a variety of smartwatch options to choose from, with sleek designs, myriad strap options, and trendy interfaces being offered by vendors, without compromising on features like responsiveness, sensor performance, battery life, and smartphone interaction,” he added.
“Increasingly, tech firms are collaborating with well-known fashion brands on new offerings to keep consumers interested, and this approach will be instrumental in driving wearable growth as it opens up the devices to new audiences through the inclusion of point of sales in fashion outlets,” Dogra concluded.
