One of the upcoming trends that has really caught the fancy of investors in 2014 has been investing in wearable technology stocks, as new products hit the market seemingly every week.
The wearable tech industry is growing at an incredible rate and has been described as a “key consumer technology.” There are strong indications that over time the growth graph of this technology will have nowhere to go but up.. In fact, it’s already experiencing incredible growth.
Google Inc.’s Google Glass” and Fitbit Inc.‘s “Fitbit” are two of the most popular wearable tech products present in the market but the consumers on the lookout for wearables are spoilt for choice and this is probably the reason why investors are keeping their eyes peeled on a multitude of companies.
As the market develops, there will be more investment opportunities, but if you wait too long you can miss a chance to buy these wearable tech stocks before prices run higher. Here are just five reasons why wearable technology stocks are about to take off…
No. 1: Key Consumer Technology. Research firms claim wearable tech will become a “key consumer technology” by the end of 2014. The firm also predicts the smart wristband segment alone will grow from 8 million in 2014 to 23 million in 2015. That number is expected to reach 45 million in 2017.
No. 2: Explosive increase in revenue. A recent Juniper research claimed that retail revenue from the wearable technology market will grow from $1.4 billion in 2013 to $19 billion in 2018. But the list of research firms that have declared wearable tech a sure shot success does not end there. The tech forecasters at IDC say the wearables market will grow at a compounded annual rate of 78% for the next several years.
No. 3: Investors Are Buying In. It’s not just consumers who are getting hyped by the wearable tech market. According to TechCrunch research in March, more than $500 million in equity and debt has been invested in wearable tech start-ups from 2009 through early 2014. Investor interest has grown steadily since 2009, and in 2013 more than $190 million was raised by start-ups.
No. 4: The Apple Watch Is Coming. According to Reuters, Apple Inc. plans to ship 50 million Apple Watches within the first year of its launch. The device contains what is called a ‘LifeChip‘ that will monitor the user’s pulse. The screen size is rumoured to be 2.5 inches and will feature the iOS operating system. Embedded with sophisticated ‘LifeChips,’ the iWatch will monitor key health metrics as blood-sugar levels and calories and sleep cycles
No. 5: Android Wear Too. For those more loyal to the Android operating system, Google announced earlier this year that it will be bringing Android to wearable gadgets. The company is looking at a foray into the Smartphone market with an expansion later into all types of wearables.
Nearly most of the major companies like Pebble, FitBit and Jawbone that specialize in making wearable technology gear are, at least for now, private and this seems like the best time to be investing in wearable technology – just as the trend is in its early stages of growth. In the times to come, wearable tech stock is aimed at becoming the next hottest investment trend.