Wearable tech is fighting an uphill battle – and no amount of pedometers or heart-rate monitors will make that climb easier. New evidence shows consumers are already bored with wearables, despite the category’s short existence thus far.
A study published in April by research firm Endeavour Partners reports that over fifty percent of American consumers who own a fitness tracker don’t use it anymore, while a third of those consumers stopped after only six months. As the most well-known and visible representatives of the wearable tech category on the market right now, it’s difficult not to view fitness trackers’ failures as signifying a deeper problem. The question: are wearables doomed to be remembered as a footnote in history, a mere tech-fad like netbooks?...
Without a raison d'etre, wearables don't mean much to most consumers other than those interested in the new shiny thing.