FOCUS: One of few growing, Russian smart wearables market has huge potential

By Yekaterina Yezhova

MOSCOW, May 16 (PRIME) -- Russia’s nascent market of connected wearables is one of few to prosper, as gadgets’ novelty appeals to customers. In spite of a growing number of cheap devices, pricey Apple Watches still have a lion’s share of the smartwatch market, and multiple fitness bracelets are also in demand, retailers said.

“The market of wearable gadgets is the youngest in Russia among all segments of personal electronics and is at the nascent stage of its development. It’s one of few local markets that is still growing on the year,” Maria Zaikina, a spokeswoman for multi-channel retailer Svyaznoy, told PRIME.

“Svyaznoy’s sales of smart wearables showed a three-digit growth in rubles in January–March on the year. The market is not saturated.”

Viktor Lukanin, executive vice president of retailer Euroset, also said that the connected wearables market potential is really large, although it is still difficult to measure it because a big chunk of imports is unofficial.

“The market is expanding now, and new models of smart gadgets appear. For example, virtual reality glasses were unveiled last year, and they are also in the category of connected wearables,” Lukanin said.

Novelty is also among the factors of popularity. “Although these gadgets were presented to the market more than a year ago, they are still new and interesting for many people. These devices could not only expand possibilities of smartphones, but also be independent accessories without synchronization with smartphones and tablets,” Zaikina at Svyaznoy said.

“One more reason of the high demand is that a wide range of smart gadgets is available at a price of below 5,000 rubles.”

Smartwatches and various types of sports bracelets are the main two categories of wearables that are widely offered by retailers. Other kinds of wearables have narrow market niches, Zaikina said.

“Fitness bracelets account for the bulk of sales of wearables in units, while smartwatches in money, because they cost more,” she said.

Smartwatches and fitness trackers enjoy the highest demand, while virtual reality glasses still have a limited model range and are produced by a few companies. “It’s still too early to forecast what type of devices will be in demand in future. A lot depends here on the evolution of smartphones,” Lukanin at Euroset said.

Smartwatches

A choice of a wearable gadget often depends on a personal liking. Some people prefer fitness trackers, because connected wristwatches as an accessory to a smartphone are excessive for them, but others opt for smartwatches as they find systems of measuring life indicators by trackers as incorrect, he said.

The mass-market consumer is getting used to smartwatches: they are bought either by Apple aficionados, or those who want to change an old electronic wristwatch for something new, Lukanin said.

Smartwatch sales at retailer M.Video almost tripled on the year in natural terms in January–March and soared by eight times in monetary terms, spokeswoman Yulia Zotova said.

“The reason behind such strong growth is the start of Apple Watch sales. Its price exceeds the tag of most of smartwatches of other brands that pushed revenues up in our stores,” Zotova said.

Zaikina at Svyaznoy said that Apple Watch devices are not only the most popular smartwatches in the country, but also the most sought-after gadgets on the whole.

“According to our calculations, Russian retailers sell more Apple Watches than other models in total. Other popular brands of smartwatches are Sony and LG,” Zaikina said.

“Comparing annual dynamics of an average price of smartwatches in January–March would be incorrect, because the figure was significantly influenced by the Apple Watch, whose sales were opened in late July 2015.”

(64.9306 rubles – U.S. $1)

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