Peak has passed, consumer expectations for wearable devices plummet

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Interest in the Apple Watch and other fitness trackers has passed its peak.

The annual "Hype Cycle" report on emerging technologies released by market research firm Gartner said that consumers' enthusiasm for wearable devices will slide into a chilling period of disillusionment.

Before Apple released the Apple Watch in April, the market was filled with a variety of smartwatches and fitness trackers.

However, according to Gartner's "Hype Cycle" report released in 2013, when Samsung launched its first smartwatch, the Galaxy Gear, consumers' enthusiasm for such products reached its peak.

The Galaxy Gear ultimately failed and was not well received by consumers. After that, people's enthusiasm for wearable devices began to decline until the release of the Apple Watch, which people were eagerly waiting for and had high expectations for, believing that it was the ultimate in smartwatch functionality.

However, due to consumers' high expectations, the Apple Watch received only "okay" reviews after its release. The Apple Watch is just a sophisticated accessory, not a necessity like a smartphone.

Although wearables have failed to live up to expectations, that doesn’t mean the category is dead. As with many emerging technologies, the first products are often the worst examples of the category. Take the first iPhone, which didn’t have an app store and ran on a terribly slow 2G network.

The main disadvantages of smart watches are short battery life and unreasonable prices. The reason why this type of product falls short of consumer expectations is that its high price does not bring the expected benefits.

So far, the main purpose of smart watches is to display some information on the phone, saving the user the trouble of checking the phone. However, as time goes by and technology improves, smart watches will undoubtedly become more attractive.

Gartner's report shows

As users increasingly realize that smartwatches only function as ordinary watches and cannot be used as smartphones, people's expectations for wearable devices will further decline.

As users increasingly realize that smartwatches only function as ordinary watches and cannot be used as smartphones, people's expectations for wearable devices will further decline.

As wearables mature and reach productive maturity over the next five to ten years, consumer interest in this category will gradually pick up, but it will be difficult to reach the initial heights.

By then, we can expect smartwatches to have battery life of more than a day, redefined user interfaces, and a wider range of features. Most importantly, the price of smartwatches will also need to be adjusted down.