Led
by the popularity of activity tracking devices, health and fitness
devices are projected to lead unit sales among all wearables in 2015 with a
projected 20 million units. Revenue is expected to surpass $1.8 billion
in 2015, according to the The U.S. Consumer Electronics Sales and Forecasts, the
semi-annual industry report released today by the Consumer Electronics
Association (CEA).

The overall wearable unit sales will reach 30.9 million units (a 61 percent
increase from last year) and generate $5.1 billion in revenue in 2015 (a
133 percent increase). CEA’s wearables category encompasses fitness
activity bands and other health and fitness devices, as well as
smartwatches and smart eyewear.

Smartwatches are expected to take off in
2015, selling 10.8 million units (a 359 percent increase) and earning a
projected $3.1 billion in revenue (a 474 percent increase over 2014).

Overall revenues for the consumer electronics (CE) industry are projected to grow three percent in 2015 and to reach an all-time high of $223.2 billion, according to the report. CEA’s consensus forecast reflects U.S. factory sales to dealers and covers more than 100 CE products.

The 2015 forecast projects that revenue for new, emerging product
categories is expected to double, growing 108 percent year-over-year in
2015. These new technology categories include 3D printers, 4K Ultra-High
Definition televisions, connected thermostats, unmanned systems
(unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned vehicles and home robots), IP
cameras and wearables such as health and fitness devices, smartwatches
and smart eyewear.

While the emerging product categories represent less than five percent of the entire CE industry revenue forecast, they are expected to contribute almost $11 billion to overall CE revenue in 2015.

“Our forecast underscores that consumers’ love affair with technology shows no signs of slowing any time soon,” said CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro. “Consumer technology is all about continued innovation. In the blink of an eye, consumer demand has taken off for emerging categories such as wearables, unmanned aerial vehicles and 4K Ultra HD – categories that were too small to track just three years ago. Expect to see these burgeoning categories, as well as innovations across the full spectrum of consumer technology, on display this week at the 2015 International CES.”

A press release for the report is here.