Why Smart Wearables Needs To Get Smarter: Notable Percentage Of Abandonment Due To Boredom & High Prices, Gartner Study Finds

Gartner has recently researched and reported that users and fans tend to discard their wearables (smartwatches and bands) after some time of using it.

Smartwatches and fitness bands as wearables are a huge fad these days. We find top brands like Apple, Samsung, Sony, FitBit, and even MI indulging in this technology. These fitness trackers are extremely useful. They help in recording and analysing your daily steps, sleep, water consumption, and calories burnt- just a few features. Some high end models also notify for calls and messages and have their own apps for recording data.

However, as a study now shows, people get bored of these wearables eventually. They start with the band enthusiastically but the enthusiasm and excitement wears off soon. Then they discard these shiny gadgets in a while.

Gartner, an analyst firm, reported than as many as 29 to 30 percent owners of wearables are abandoned by their users. The report was a result of the survey conducted on almost 10,000 customers in Australia, United States and United Kingdom. They survey was conducted to understand what customers feel about such wearable devices including smartwatches, fitness bands and even VR glasses!

The reasons stated by them included boredom and the fact that they didn't find them useful. These devices are also prone to breakdown- they said. "Dropout from device usage is a serious problem for the industry," said Angela McIntyre, research director at Gartner.

The rate of abandoning these devices is quite high. Experts speculate that users may be looking for devices which offer more than their smartphones already offer. The smartwatch and fitness band companies need to add more features to boost consumer interest.

The 2016 Gartner Personal Technologies Study showed that smartwatch adoption is still in its early stages, sitting at 10 percent, while fitness trackers are closer to reaching mainstream appeal, with a 19 percent adoption rate. The people who responded to the survey also said that they found these trackers too costly against their usefulness. They also cited design issues.

US currently has the highest number of smartwatch users, with a 12% adoption rate. UK and Australia follow US at 9 per cent and 7 per cent respectively. The US also leads in fitness tracker usage, with a 23 percent adoption rate, followed by Australia at 19 percent and the UK at 15 percent, according to Gartner.