One of the primary goals of the Wearable Technology LIVE Conference, coming to Santa Clara California for November 19-20, is to unify the wearable electronics Industry. According to analysts at IDTechEx, it is very fragmented, especially when it comes to manufacturers. Even mature sub-sectors have no clear leaders in what is projected to be a $70 billion plus business in 2024 with as many as 12,000 developers and manufacturers. For example: there are literally thousands of companies making basic earphones and electronic watches, with nearly all of them in China. There is very little to differentiate them, particularly in the eyes of consumers. Of course there are some leaders In the premium versions on the market, but that is still the exception and remains a very crowded arena. In the newer wearable electronics there are no clear leaders at all, certainly nothing equivalent to the dominance of Samsung and Apple despite some wearable electronics being intimately linked to mobile phones.
Wearable electronics is already a large business and it will be a exponentially larger ten years from now. The new IDTechEx report, Wearable Technology 2014-2024: Technologies, Markets, and Forecasts, notes why so many of the famous names in apparel, electronics and infotainment are involved in an energetic struggle to win in wearable electronics before the sectors mature. Only a few will become winners and stand to generate large amounts of revenue. Thousands of others are competing with them and a shakeout will occur. It’s just a matter of time. Because new sectors will offer genuine volume, for many manufacturers the choice will be to focus on niche or volume. At stake will be huge investment costs often of billions of dollars, just as happened with mobile phones, LCD and OLED displays, and lithium-ion batteries. Brand power and strong routes to market are effective but not necessarily enough on their own.
So where is this all headed? Will there be a clash between the current titans of the electronics industry? Or will it be some upstart that brings a new approach to a new market? There are even companies from many other industries involved. This includes component suppliers such as Qualcomm’s smart watch that puts them in direct competition with their own customers. Meanwhile other component manufacturers are directly investing in startups to make sure that their chipsets will be the choice of platform for these new devices.
Wearable Tech Live is being produced by IDTechEx . They are known for organizing the leading show for Printed Electronics with over 2500 attendees, 150 presenters and 200 exhibitors. They are co-locating a Wearable Technology Live conference alongside their Santa Clara event which takes place on 19 & 20 November 2014.The session on wearable technologies will focus on their applications and commercialization progress. Presentations will cover diverse end-uses and end-user requirements, as well as the latest progress on critical technologies that will shape the future of wearable technology. These include thin, flexible and/or printed electronics, energy harvesting, wireless power transfer, and the Internet of Things.Each of these is a leading event in its own right, attracting high-level decision-makers from across the value chain. Click on the logos below for more info:
For a look at the complete agenda click here. To register and attend this event and take advantage of their early bird pricing, click here. QTOOTH is excited to be a media a sponsor for this event and we look forward to reporting on what takes place. Check back here in November for the lowdown on the Wearable Technology Live conference.
