Top Features People Want For Wearables, April 2015 [CHART]

Top Features People Want For Wearables, April 2015 [CHART]

Wearable device awareness is high, but ownership—and purchase intent—remain low. Indeed, May 2015 polling by Altimeter Group found that just 7% of US internet users owned a wearable, and a March 2015 study by DigitasLBi put wearables penetration among internet users worldwide at 17%.

What could urge consumers to take the plunge? When April 2015 polling by Chadwick Martin Bailey (CMB)—which found that six in 10 US smartphone owners were familiar to some extent with wearables—asked about the most desirable features, respondents stuck with three categories: fundamentals, health and point-of-sale payments—in other words, nothing overly fancy.

Basic features including touchscreens, GPS and water resistance were desired most. Consumers have already shown interest in using wearables to track fitness and health, so it comes as little surprise that calorie trackers, pedometers, and heart rate and blood pressure monitors were highly in demand as well. Read the rest at eMarketer.