Retailer: Sales of smart wearables jump 43% to 4 bln rbl in 2016

MOSCOW, Feb 15 (PRIME) – Russian sales of connected wearables – smartwatches, fitness-bracelets and trackers – spiked 43% in 2016 to 3.8 billion rubles and 42% in units to over 270,000 devices, multi-channel retailer Svyaznoy said on Wednesday in a research note.

“The smart accessories sales growth results from several factors. Besides the fact that wearables expand the functions of a smartphone, they are becoming more autonomous and independent devices,” Svyaznoy said.

“For example, some smartwatch models are equipped with several gigabytes of installed memory and allow users to download and listen to music. The number of applications for smart wearables is also rising.”

Design of wearables contributes to demand since they can match with various styles of clothes, and more and more people see them as personal look elements. Fashion for fitness supports sales as well.

Smartwatch sales soared 44% in money to 3.3 billion rubles and 11% in units to 137,000 devices, the retailer said. Demand for more expensive models dragged an average price to 24,100 rubles in 2016 from 18,700 rubles a year earlier.

The Apple Watch smartwatch is the most popular smart-accessory in the country: a quarter of all users of wearables bought the device in 2016. Apple Watches are popular thanks to their options, design and demand for the iPhone in the country. Apple’s smartphones were among bestsellers in 2016.

Apart from the Apple Watch, smartwatches by Samsung and Sony were among leaders.

(57.7388 rubles – U.S. $1)

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