Samsung admits only 4% of us are using wearable tech

Samsung admits only 4% of us using wearable tech
Samsung hoping for a bigger hit with Gear 2 and Fit range

Apparently the UK isn't bothered about smartwatches yet – but when fitness trackers are added in, we'll be all over them.

While smartwatches, fitness bands and Google Glass are quite niche right now, Samsung believes the demand is about to nearly quadruple.

According to research Samsung undertook with YouGov, which polled 3500 people, around 4% of the UK currently owns a wearable - that's anything from Nike's Fuelband, Fitbits and Jawbone fitness bands to smartwatches from Samsung and Sony.

"When we talk to consumers, 4% of the population own a wearable device," James White, Samsung Mobile's Head of IM Strategy & Mobile Product Marketing told us.

More on their way

"The intention to purchase is about 14% but awareness [of what wearables actually are] is 60% and rising."

He added that the single most important thing that consumers are looking for with wearables is fitness, which explains why Samsung added heart-rate monitoring to the new Gear 2 and Gear Fit, and beefed up its S Health app too.

White likened what's happening with wearable tech to the explosion we've seen in tablets in recent years.

"[The wearables space] is akin to the tablet market, in that the technology is there and there are lots of wearable products to choose from," White said, adding that it falls to manufacturers to make it clear which product is best for what you'll want to use it for.

The tablet analogy used above implies that same thing will happen to the popularity of wearables when Apple launches its own iWatch later this year as did with the iPad.

But this time Apple will be on the back foot, jumping into a fierce competition with existing products like the Sony Smartwatch, Gear range and Pebble devices.

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief


Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.