Depending on which press release you read, consumers are either”
- “not ready” for wearables, or
- wearables will be mainstream in the next couple of years.
A seven-nation survey of 3,600 people performed by SSI found that one out of every three people were “very” or “somewhat” likely to buy a wearable, with 65 percent interested in a wristband and 55 in glasses, a company press release said.
It’s worth noting that the sample, which seems small, included respondents using a mobile app, which kind of skews the results.
At the same time, a consumer survey performed by TNS found that although 75 percent of people had heard about wearables, only 9 percent were interested in wearing one. About half would wear one on their wrist, and a quarter would wear something on their arm.
More than half think that wearables would be too expensive for them, 30 percent were concerned about privacy, and a quarter think they have too many gadgets already. On the other hand (so to speak), about a third of the people surveyed said they’d use a device to monitor their health or communicate with their friends. So much for privacy concerns.