According to the Consumers and Wearables report from NPD Group, is a leading global market research company, connected intelligence consumers, one in ten U.S. adults now own a fitness tracker. In comparison, smartwatches has just two percent market penetration and are yet to be accepted by the general public.
Popular fitness trackers from companies like Nike, Fitbit and Jawbone are now attracting a different segment of the population. Wearers of fitness-focused wearables happen to be older and well-to-do compared to those who wear smartwatches.
In its survey, NPD found that 36 percent of fitness tracker owners in the U.S. are between the ages of 35 and 54, whereas 54 percent are women. In comparison, 69 percent of smartwatch owners who prefer devices like Pebble or watching Android Wear tends to be between the age of 18 and 34. An overwhelming 71 percent of smartwatch owners in the U.S are males.
The average income of 41 percent of fitness tracker owners is more than $45,000 annually compared to the 48 per cent who earn less than $45,000 annually.
NPD Researched As Smartwatches are not yet mainstream
Wes Henderek, director of NPD Connected Intelligence says that there is no ‘average’ consumer for the wearables market. Target consumers for fitness tracker as well as smartwatches are basically different. Smartwatch ownership is expected to grow even more rapidly in the coming year, however, there needs to be a clear place for fitness tracker due to its size, battery life and focus compared to the smartwatches that are trying to accumulate everything.
The data comes as Apple is all set to roll out its own set of wearables in the market with a wrist-worn device that aims to be both a smartwatch as well as a fitness tracker.
The NPD research was published during the CES 2015 where a wide range of wearable devices have been showcased. NPD surveyed 5,000 U.S. consumers between the age of 18 and older in December 2014.
