Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been rumored to be working on an iWatch for quite some time now, and as it turns out, the wearable computing market is expected to more than triple in the next five years. ZDNet “Between the Lines” contributor Andrew Nusca said he has been skeptical about the iWatch, but he’s starting to be convinced.
The iWatch’s Place In The Wearable Computing Explosion
He cites a new report from MarketsandMarkets which says that by 2018, annual revenue from the wearable electronics market will top $8 billion. Currently, that number is less than $3 billion, which means the market is expected to more than triple in five years.
So why wouldn’t Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) want to get in on that market? After all, he points out that wrist devices hold the largest share of the wearable electronics market, so an iWatch would fit right into that category. Perhaps the bigger question here is what the iWatch will do, and so far, we have had few theories other than that it might replace the iPhone.
The iWatch And The Enterprise Market
What’s even more surprising from the report is the expectation that both enterprise and industrial use of wearable electronics is the smallest segment of the industry, but it’s expected to grow the fastest among all of the segments.
So unlike Nusca, I haven’t really thought that an iWatch is really that far-fetched. However, I’m not sure it will be the blockbuster product Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) really needs right now, so we’ll just have to wait and see what it does. If it’s got big-time applications for enterprise, then it could do quite well.
