Wearable rings to steal limelight for the next couple of years

• Rings shipments rise 34.9% in 2023 while glasses without a display grew 128.2% due to the launch of new products from Amazon and Meta.
• Rings avoid some of the key shortcomings of smartwatches and hence appeal to a broader audience.
• Wearables devices to grow 10.5% year on year to reach 559.7m units in 2024 and reach 645.7m units by the end of 2028.

Wearable rings have caught the attention of consumers as new brands begin to roll out their products as users look for replacements during the second half of this year.

Rings, such as those from Oura and Ultrahuman, showed promise with the category growing 34.9 per cent in 2023 while glasses without a display grew 128.2 per cent due to the launch of new products from Amazon and Meta.

Ramon T. llamas, research director with IDC’s wearables team, said that the high-water mark for wearables came in 2020 and 2021 with volumes reaching record levels while the next two years saw the aftermath of that success as demand began to wane and shipments steadily declined.

“2024 will be the start of the rebound as users will look for replacements and this will carry into 2025 and beyond.”

By providing a discreet form factor and multi-day battery life, Jitesh Ubrani, research manager at IDC, said that rings avoid some of the key shortcomings of smartwatches and hence appeal to a broader audience.

However, he said the form factor has long relied on a subscription-based business model, which is expected to subside in the short term as competition heats up.

Wearables devices are poised for additional growth in 2024 as device shipments are forecast to reach 559.7 million units, up 10.5 per cent over 2023 and reach to 645.7 million units by the end of 2028 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.6 per cent.

In 2023, global shipments of wearable devices managed to grow 1.7 per cent.

 “By providing a discreet form factor and multi-day battery life, rings avoid some of the key shortcomings of smartwatches and hence appeal to a broader audience. However, the form factor has long relied on a subscription-based business model, which is expected to subside in the short term as competition heats up,” Ubrani said.