Market research firm Javelin Strategy & Research has come out with some new data and predictions for the Apple Watch and the overall smartwatch market. The findings are available in a report entitled “What Apple Watch Means for Banking and Payments”.
Basically, it’s good news. In a synopsis, Javelin says that the release of the Apple Watch “could be the shot that sets smartwatch adoption off to the races,” noting that, with smartwatch owners currently making up six percent of the market and health-tracking band owners making up 12 percent, the “level of device adoption is comparable to that of smartphones and tablets when Apple released the first-generation iPhone and iPad.” That echoes other recent analysis, which has generally been pretty upbeat about the prospects of the Apple Watch, whose success in engendering mainstream smartwatch adoption will also bolster that of its competitors.
It’s not all going to happen overnight, though. Javelin predicts that 15 million Apple Watches will be sold in the device’s first year, whereas “the real test comes in the second year, when the ‘fast followers’ come on board.” Mary Monahan, Javelin’s Research Director – Mobile, believes that is when smartwatches will really pick up momentum, with “annual double-digit gains in overall consumer adoption” for the industry as a whole.
As for who’s going to be among the first to purchase an Apple Device, Javelin’s data indicates that these consumers are young (44 percent between 25 and 34), wealthy (37 percent make over $100,000 a year), and technologically savvy (46 percent have used a mobile wallet and 80 percent have done mobile banking in the past 90 days).
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