What’s the next big thing in Wearables? Here at Argus Insights, we track social conversation across entire markets to discover what’s top of mind. Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about running, jogging, and big data in Wearables discussion. News of a developing energy harvesting shoe insole recently sparked interest in run tracking to help drive up mindshare about using wearables while running and jogging. Use of wearables at the SuperBowl got people talking about Big Data and all the possibilities that come with the large amount of data collected from wearable devices.
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The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is quickly approaching, and with it comes a wealth of information about the hottest tech trends and newest product announcements. With information being presented across the entire tech industry from the expansion of the Internet of Things, to robot vacuums, to fitness wearables, and beyond, it is hard for anyone to keep track of it all. Never fear, EE Times Radio Post CES Teardown is here.
John will elaborate on the voice of the consumer amongst the madness of CES, comparing notes with Gary Arlen of Arlen Communications and Mark Boyadijs of IHS Automotive on EE Times Radio’s Post CES Teardown.
We will also be at CES in Las Vegas, please let us know if you will be too and would like to chat.
Since becoming a publicly traded company in June of this year, Fitbit has seen an increase in sales and revenue. However, after announcing their impressive earnings for Q2, their stock prices “plunged 14% in trading.” While Fitbit’s revenue beat forecasts, their profit slipped year to year due to increased spending on research and development. Spending money to make money, as Fitibt is doing by tripling their R&D spending, could have potentially spooked investors.
Stepping back to take a look at the entire wearables market, we see that Fitbit’s bid toward the future is probably a good idea. While Fitbit maintains the most mindshare in the wearables market, other fitness bands, smartwatches, and less common types of wearable technology are becoming more prevalent, and Fitbit must continue to innovate if they want to keep their users interested. Currently, wearables consumers are finding more delight with products from other brands, meaning there are better liked wearables brands out there just waiting for the consumer base to take notice.
Fitbit continues to dominate the wearables market in terms of mindshare. They see far more feedback from consumers than any other brand, but Fibit consumers are far from the happiest. As demonstrated in the graph above, several brands saw a dramatic increase in consumer delight during Q2. Major established competitors Motorola, LG, and Samsung all saw an increase in positive feedback from consumers to surpass Fitbit in terms of delight, as did several less popular wearables manufacturers like Martian and Asus. In addition to competition from those increasingly delightful brands, as more consumer get their hands on the Apple Watch, a much anticipated smartwatch with fitness capabilities, they are reporting higher delight than Fitbit users.
Consumers know about Fitbit. They buy Fitbit devices and are satisfied, but recently, consumers are branching out to find delight in other brands. If Fitbit is to maintain their prowess, they must continue to innovate, and increasing their current spending on research and development could help them compete with the increasing delight of Motorola and LG.
Argus Insights is constantly tracking shifts in consumer perception in the wearables market, sign up for our free weekly newsletter for regular insights, or schedule a time to talk with us about the performance of your company compared to your competition.
Consumer demand in the wearables market continues to fall, but the dynamics of consumer perception are continuously shifting. In terms of mindshare, Fitbit is dominating. After experiencing a drop in attention during November 2014, after the announcement of the Apple Watch, Fitbit has recovered to see a continually growing share of consumer attention. Aside from Fitibt, consumers are showing steady interest in Garmin and Jawbone and Samsung devices.
The top three most popular wearables brands, Fitbit, Garmin, and Samsung, hover below Motorola and LG in terms of delight. The Moto 360 continues to impress consumers, securing Motorola as the most delightful wearables brand of June. LG saw a boost in happy LG Watch Urbane customers to rank second to Motorola in terms of delight. While customers highly praise Garmin’s Forerunner 220 and 310XT as some of their favorite wearable devices, negative feedback for the manufacturer’s other devices drives down the brand’s overall delight. Despite being released for several months now, Apple has yet to really disrupt the market. Since Apple does not allow customers to review their products on their site, consumer feedback for the Apple Watch remains sparse. Most feedback is obtained through second hand sales on Amazon, and while it is not a comprehensive view of the Apple Watch consumer, these users are growing more and more impressed.
US consumers are displaying the most interest in wearable devices, as Amazon and Best Buy saw the highest volume of reviews this month. Best Buy’s high delight score was driven primarily by happy Fitbit and Pebble customers, while Amazon saw lackluster reactions to Fitbit devices and the most positive feedback from Moto 360 consumers. European wearables consumers are also extremely happy with the Moto 360, while negative perception of the Xioami MiBand is driving down the overall delight for Amazon UK.
Wearables consumers are using their devices to help on their journey to a healthier lifestyle, as fitness continues to be top of mind for both smartwatch and fitness band users. While Fitness band discussion is full of praise for tracking steps, runs, bike rides, and weight loss, the looming threat of the sock drawer remains. Some fitness band users express that after a while, they lose interest in their device and simply stop using it as they reach a plateau or lose motivation. While fitness is also a primary interest for smartwatch users, they tend to focus more heavily on using their devices for messaging, notifications, and social media, reporting dissatisfaction with messaging on these tiny screens.
Argus Insights tracks consumer perception across the entire wearables market to gain insight and coach our clients to develop better products and surpass their competition. Schedule a time to talk with us about how we can help your company thrive in the fact of shifting consumer perception.
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The wearables landscape is crowded with countless competing devices, all with different strengths and weakness when it comes to functionality and wearability. Basis, a wearables company that has been struggling to delight consumers, recently announced the more fashionable Peak Titanium Edition smartwatch in an effort to appeal to a new segment of consumers. While fashion is becoming increasingly important in the wearables market as a whole, Basis users have more basic usage complaints that must be addressed in addition to exterior improvements, if Basis is to join the ranks of Microsoft, Motorola, and Pebble as a top delighter.
The Basis Titanium Edition touts an updated titanium frame and cognac leather strap, but the less flashy software updates are likely to have a larger impact upon improving the consumer experience. This emphasis on style appears to be an attempt to match the fashion conscious design of some of the most delightful wearables, but Basis consumers have had more pressing complaints about availability of data and app compatibility, placing concern about style below these basic usage matters.
Though the new flashy fashion update is stealing headlines, the big news for users is that Basis also updated its app to allow users to share their Basis data with “either Apple’s Health app or Google Fit.” This update increases Basis connectivity and allows users to make the most of their device by syncing it with others.
While fashion has recently become a hot topic in wearables creation due to Apple’s unyielding influence, companies must be aware that a wearable device must first offer a solid, usable interface to ensure that it will make a difference in the life of the user, before focusing on glitz and glamor. Companies like Motorola, Pebble, and Microsoft are fusing function with fashion to create devices consumers want to use.
Fitbit maintains majority mindshare of the wearables market, but as other wearables companies are refining the smartwatch, the fitness band giant is losing clout in this developing subset. Learn more about Fitbit’s vulnerabilities ahead of their IPO in our Fitbit Demand Report.
Argus Insights is constantly tracking consumer feedback in the wearables market to determine which brands are winning, which attributes are top of mind, and most importantly, why. Clients of our full services have access to real time data and insights, please contact us with any questions.