Wearables market on the upswing in UAE

ALKESH SHARMA / Emirates Business

An all-new generation of tech-savvy individuals, who believe in making the most out of technology marvels, is apparently giving a boost to the wearables market in the UAE. Driven by an increased adoption of smart watches, techie wristbands and competitive prices, the country’s wearables industry is certainly enjoying one of the most money-spinning phases of its lifecycle.
Stimulated big-time by various positive catalysts, industry experts have experienced a nearly 30 percent increase in the shipments of wearables in the UAE in the beginning of 2016.
“Wearables are part of personal computing and give users a freedom to control various applications in one go. We have recorded over 25 percent rise in the shipments of wearables whereas overall market has registered more than 30 percent increase in January this year,” Omar Rashid, chief marketing officer of Hooked-in enterprises that deals with wearables and smart devices in the UAE, told Emirates Business.
“Recently we did a survey among UAE residents, aged 16-40 years, and found that 42 percent of them were already using one or the other wearable, while 68 percent expressed interest towards buying a new wearable by the end of this year. Therefore future of this industry is certainly bright in the UAE,” added Rashid.
A report, released by a leading US-based consultancy firm, said that over 50 percent of the consumers use wearables that are related to fitness activities while over 25 percent of them are using them to listen to music and to make internet calls.
“In terms of the operating system in the wearable technology, Apple’s watchOS is leading the industry and it is followed by Android. Apple’s smart watches are one of the most liked wearables in the market,” Mohammad Ali, a cyber-expert, working as an IT consultant with Dotnet Solutions (a Germany-based IT start-up) in Dubai, told Emirates Business.
Meanwhile, wearables market is on an upswing not only in the Emirates, but also the whole region.
Notably, the Middle East and Africa (MEA) wearables market experienced a 65.3 percent year-on-year growth in shipments in the first quarter of 2016, according to global technology research and consulting firm International Data Corporation (IDC). IDC tracks seven major countries across MEA, and shipments into these countries totalled 419,925 units in the first quarter of 2016.
“The growth of the wearables market provides a rare ray of light amid an overall downturn for personal computing in the region. This growth has been spurred by a number of factors, including declining average selling prices, new product launches, the entrance of lower-cost wearables, and the introduction of sleeker designs,” said says Nakul Dogra, a senior research analyst for personal computing, systems, and infrastructure solutions at IDC Middle East, Africa, and Turkey.
Smart wearables, which are classified as devices capable of running third-party applications, are still finding their feet in the market as many consumers continue to view the devices as too expensive for the features and functions they offer.