Shipments of connected wearables are forecasted to reach almost 240m units worldwide in 2023 after reaching 116.8m units sold in 2018, according to Berg Insight.

It’s predicted that the connected wearables market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.4 per cent to hit 238.5 shipments in 2023. Of the units sold, a total of 67.7m are expected to incorporate embedded cellular connectivity, mainly in the smartwatch and telecare and medical device categories.

According to Berg, the connected fitness & activity tracker segment reached 65m units last year, but it’s a segment being threatened by smartwatches with activity tracking features such as the Apple Watch, which accounted for almost half of the 45.5m smartwatches sold in 2018. In 2021, the smartwatch segment is tipped to surpass the fitness & activity tracker segment, becoming the largest wearable device category.

“Technology advancements, increased consumer awareness and wide availability of devices in different price segments will enable smartwatches to reach shipments of 117.7 million units in 2023,” said Martin Bäckman, IoT Analyst at Berg Insight.

Sales of smart glasses and head-mounted displays have been modest so far, only reaching around 1.5m devices shipped in 2018. However, with the likes of Oculus, HTC, Microsoft, and Google all active in the segment, it’s predicted that sales will leap to 11.9m by 2023. Meanwhile, medical and mobile telecare devices are forecasted to grow from 1.8m in 2018 to 6.9m in 2023.

Finally, annual shipments of wearables across all other categories accounted for 3m sales in 2018 – a figure which is set to reach 13m in four years’ time.