Digital 2023 Deep-Dive: The rise of wearables
Our huge new Digital 2023 dataset shows an impressive rise in the popularity of connected, “wearable” devices.
For example, the latest data from GWI shows that roughly 3 in 10 working-age internet users now own some form of “smart wrist” device like a smartwatch or a fitness tracker.
Let’s take a closer look.
Smart watches are becoming more popular
Ownership of these devices has jumped by more than 9 percent year-on-year, and current trends suggest that more people may own one of these devices than own a tablet by this time next year.
What’s more, GWI’s data already shows that working-age internet users are more likely to own a smartwatch (22.5 percent) than they are to own a gaming console (20.3 percent).
However, as with so many data points in this year’s reports, the popularity of devices like the Apple Watch varies considerably by geography and demographic.
For example, more than a third of work-age internet users in the UAE say that they own a smartwatch today, compared with less than 6 percent in Ghana.
Overall, men are slightly more likely to own a smartwatch than women are (23.0 percent vs. 21.8 percent, respectively).
However, amongst internet users aged 25 to 34 – where ownership of these devices is highest – women are actually more likely than men to own a smartwatch.
More broadly, over a quarter of internet users between the ages of 25 and 44 now own a smartwatch.
More people are using smart health and fitness trackers
Meanwhile, women are more likely than men overall to own a smart wristband device like a Fitbit or a Garmin.
GWI’s data shows that 14.4 percent of working-age internet users now own one of these wearables, but that skews to 14.8 percent amongst women, compared with 14.1 percent for men.
Once again though, the popularity of these devices varies meaningfully between countries.
The latest data suggest that smart wristband devices are most popular in Poland and Spain, where more than a quarter of working-age internet users say that they own at least one such device.
At the other end of the spectrum, barely 1 in 50 people in this age group in Morocco say they own one of these wearables, and ownership levels are only marginally higher in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and Japan.
Disclosure: Simon Kemp is a brand ambassador for GWI.
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