A new report forecasts that the wearables market will drive revenues up 500 percent over the next 10 years.

However, there will be a great deal of disruption along the way.

“Commoditization” will hit manufacturers hard, and “product form factors [will be] changing rapidly,” says U.K.-based research firm IDTechEx.

“Fuelled by a frenzy of hype, funding and global interest, wearable technology was catapulted to the top of the agenda for companies spanning the entire value chain and world,” warns James Hayward, Technology Analyst at IDTechEx.

“This investment manifested in hundreds of new products and extensive tailored R&D investigating relevant technology areas. However, the fickle nature of hype is beginning to show, and many companies are now progressing beyond discussing “wearables” to focus on the detailed and varied sub-sectors.”

IDTechEx says wearables revenues will hit $30 billion in 2016 and keep rising to $150 billion by 2026.

Wearables technology in the global Internet of Things continues to evolve for different ues and in multiple devices, from smartwatches and fitness bands to “smart” skin patches, augmented reality and virtual reality as well as “smart” eyewear.

In fact, IDTechEx forecasts that smartphones remain essential to the wearables trend as a technology “hub.”

“Today, most smartwatches and many fitness trackers still rely, at least partially, on a connection to a smartphone hub,” says Hayward.

“The ubiquity of the smartphone as a central platform has been a key enabler for growth in wearables so far, but all of the largest manufacturers now look to a future, where the hub itself may become wearable.”

The report is titled: Wearable Technology 2016-2026

For more details, see:

http://www.IDTechEx.com/wearable