Most people wouldn’t even pay $200 for a smartwatch

With how much attention the market for wearable gadgets has been getting recently, you’d think it was a lucrative market with tons of people willing to pay hundreds of dollars for the latest fitness trackers or smartwatches, but that’s far from the case. In fact, a recent survey done by Juniper Research found that most smartphone owners in the United Kingdom and United States wouldn’t even pay $200 for a wearable. A mere 20% of the 2,000 people that were surveyed said that any more than $175 (£115) is too much for a wearable device, even a high-end smartwatch.

Are wearables the next big thing for smart products or a high-cost segment being forced into the market in lieu of meaningful innovation? It appears that the latter may be closer to the truth at the moment, as Juniper Research has found that very few consumers are interested in expensive wearable gadgets. From a survey of just over 2,000 smartphone owners in the UK and US, the research found that only 1 in 5 customers are prepared to pay more than $175 (~£115) for any sort of wearable device. This doesn’t bode well for the range of more expensive smartwatches that have hit the market lately, and probably also goes some way to explain the popularity of lower cost sports wearables, such as the FitBit range. However, this trend is somewhat at odds with the research team’s finding about the ‘coolest’ brands. Both Apple and Samsung, which offer the most expensive wearables on the market, topped the rankings, with over 75 percent of respondents stating that they preferred these two brands. Other Android Wear manufacturers make up the top five, while Pebble and a number of sports brands, which feature lower price tags, are dotted lower down the list. Fashion brands didn’t fare too well either.