EU lags behind US on wearables ownership

According to the findings, from the inaugural release of Kantar Worldpanel ComTech’s Wearable service, 12.2% of US consumers own a wearable device, compared with 6.6% in the top four EU countries (Great Britain, Germany, France and Italy). 

The report also reveals that fitness bands dominate the US market – three in four wrist wearable devices owned fall into that category. In the EU, smartwatches make up 55% of wearable devices (though in the UK, fitness trackers are favoured over smartwatches, representing 54% and 46% of owned devices respectively).   

Fitbit remains the most owned of the combined fitness band and smartwatch base, at 18.5%, but Apple and Samsung are close behind with 14% and 11.6% respectively. 

In this category, brand, ease of use and functionality are reportedly the top drivers of purchase, outweighing both design and cost. 

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