Despite the media hype surrounding Google Glass and Smart Watch, 65% of Australians say they don’t plan to purchase a wearable technology device.
Only 5% of Australians currently own a wearable technology device and just 5% plan to buy one in the next six months, AIMIA’s latest report found.
“The results clearly suggest that wearable technologies are still very much an emerging and unknown reality for most respondents,” the Australian Mobile Phone Lifestyle Index (AMPLI) said.
The number of Aussies planning to buy a device rises to 12% when the intended purchase window is widened to within the next 12 months.
“Based on these figures the ownership of wearable technology device will be around 10% in February 2014 and 22% in September 2014.”
“How these mobile devices interact and affect the use of mobile phones in the future will be an area of potential interest for all businesses that rely upon using the mobile phone to interact with their customers or clients.”
Andrew Lark, the former marketing head of the Commonwealth Bank and chief executive of Group Lark, has predicted wearable technology will become “absolutely mainstream”, with everyone owning two or three different devices.
For more on what wearable technology could mean for marketing and communications click here.
Meanwhile, a recent study by cloud computing company Rackspace found Australians are more fond of wearable technology than Brits and Americans.
In the UK and US, just 18% of people embrace wearable technology compared to 35% of Australians.
Of that 35%, 64% believe the technology enhanced their lives.