Market research firm Canalys has today released its latest forecast for the wearables and TWS headsets market for 2021. The forecast shows that by 2021, shipments of smartphone accessories such as wearable devices and TWS headsets will exceed 200 million units representing a growth of 12% and 350 million units (39% growth) respectively. 
The advent of the COVID 19 pandemic has made consumers shift focus to accessories such as smart wearable devices and TWS devices. Canalys believes that the two categories of wearable devices and TWS headsets will be more resistant to the effect of the pandemic than smartphones. Also, shipments are expected to increase significantly at a rate of 32% in 2020. In addition to Greater China and North America, the growth of smart accessories in the Asia-Pacific and European regions is bound to be very strong.
Canalys noted that wearable bands and TWS earbuds are some of the few strategic winners of 2020. According to Canalys Research Analyst Cynthia Chen; “The pandemic will prolong replacement cycles for smartphones. However, the ‘lipstick effect’ will drive consumers to spend on smaller, less costly items during an economic downturn to meet their buying pleasures…Consumers’ attention to health and wellness has increased significantly during the pandemic, which is a great opportunity for wearable devices, such as those from Xiaomi, Garmin, Fitbit and Huami etc. Engagement in indoor activities such as remote learning, working from home and home entertainment, as well as outdoor sports and recreation also continued to rise. This usher in greater than expected growth, particularly for TWS headphones, such as those from Apple, Samsung, Jlab and QCY etc.”
At the same time, the Canalys believes that manufacturers still need to maintain a high degree of vigilance to prevent subsequent infection wave affecting their IoT expansion plans. Chen added: “While users are expected to tighten their spending, they continue to demand devices to do even more and provide an excellent user experience. The challenge here is to bring incremental upgrades to ever more affordable devices while ensuring seamless integration that must translate to valuable features to help users in areas such as wellness and smartphone entertainment.”
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