Smartwatch trends in Germany

BITKOM (the Bundesverband Informationswirtschaft, Telekommunikation und neue Medien) recently published a new study on smartwatches following on from two similar studies conducted in 2013. Given the changes in the smartwatches available in 2013 and today (pre-Apple Watch days) the results should be taken with a pinch of salt. Nevertheless, regardless of how seriously we can take the figures they do make interesting reading.

Growing Demand?

According to the studies, in June 2013 only 31% of the 1006 respondents were interested in a smartwatch. In September of the same year this had risen to 38% (1008 participants). A year and a half later, the latest study of 1011 people aged 14 or over found that 40% were interested in a smartwatch. That means that in 2015 there are 28 million potential smartwatch owners in Germany - an increase of six million more than in 2013! The first study in 2013 also looked at how much people would be willing to pay for a smartwatch - the average amount was about 87€. Given that now the cheapest watches still cost about €100 this could be the biggest potential stumbling block for widescale adoption at the moment.  

Typical Users

Perhaps unsurprisingly, men are more interested in smartwatches than women. In June 2013, 39% said they would definitely or probably use a smartwatch compared to only 23% of women. Age also played a role here. In June 2013 49% of all 14 to 29 year olds were interested in getting a smartwatch compared to only 31% for all age groups.

LG G Watch pretending to be an Apple Watch with a Pebble for company!

 Reservations

The latest study does also list some reasons why participants weren't interested in getting a smartwatch:

• 45% said they hadn't considered it
• 36% didn't want to give up their current watch
• 36% were worried about privacy issues
• 29% said that smartwatches are too expensive
• 19% didn't like the design
• 11% said that the battery life is too short

Adressing design and battery life issues shouldn't be too difficult and privay concerns may just be a case of confirming what exactly happens with any data the watch gathers. The price is a factor which will typically fall when the devices become more popular so maybe getting people to give up their current watches or even consider having a smartwatch in the first place could be the most difficult challengs to face.

Sources:

Report, April 2015: https://www.bitkom.org/de/presse/8477_82146.aspx

Report, September 2013:  http://www.bitkom.org/de/presse/78284_77281.aspx

Report, June 2013: https://www.bitkom.org/de/markt_statistik/64026_76561.aspx