Apple Watch to Fuel Interest in Wearables

Get ready for an explosion in wrist-worn gadgets.

According to Monday stats from IDC, the firm expects vendors to ship about 45.7 million wearables this year, an increase of 133.4 percent from 2014. That's expected to increase to 126.1 million by 2019.

Not surprisingly, the Apple Watch is expected to help fuel some of this growth, IDC said. "The Apple Watch raises the profile of wearables in general and there are many vendors and devices that are eager to share the spotlight," Ramon Llamas, Research Manager with IDC's Wearables team, said in a statement.

IDC pointed to Motorola's Moto 360 ($179.97 at Amazon), Samsung's Gear watches, and other gadgets running third-party apps as devices that stand to benefit from increased interest in wearables. Of the 45.7 million shipments expected in 2015, about 25.7 million will be "smart wearables," or those that run apps.

"While Apple's entry into the market is symbolic, the key to success will be to create compelling use cases for the average consumer," said Ryan Reith, program director with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Device Trackers. "Many users will need a good reason to replace a traditional watch or accessory with a wrist-worn device or some other form of wearable that will likely require daily charging and occasional software upgrades."

"Basic wearables, meanwhile, will not disappear. In fact, we anticipate continued growth here as many segments of the market seek out simple, single-use wearable devices," Llamas said.

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Hands On With the Apple Watch

No matter what people buy, it will probably go on the wrist. IDC estimated that wrist-worn devices will have almost 90 percent of the wearables market in 2015. The second-closest category will be modular gadgets (devices that can be worn on any part of the body with a clip or a strap) at 5.7 percent. Eye-based devices like Google Glass will be at 2.2 percent this year, and IDC expects them to catch on first in the enterprise.

Still, clothing "is expected to grow the fastest as companies embed items like shirts, socks, hats, and other products with computing power," IDC said.