By Marcy Magiera
Continued consumer adoption of connected devices and technologies, collectively known as the “Internet of Things” or IoT, is forecast to push the U.S. consumer technology industry to a record $287 billion in retail revenues in 2016, creating ample new licensing opportunities along the way in products for home and personal use.
The Consumer Technology Association (formerly the Consumer Electronics Association), producer of last week’s giant CES trade show in Las Vegas, predicts that overall technology revenues will edge up just 1% as the growth of large and mature product categories, including smartphones, TVs and laptops, slows but fledgling innovations, including wearables and smart home technology, post big gains. Sales of fitness trackers, for instance, will grow 12% to 17.4 million units, representing $1.3 billion in revenue in 2016, CTA predicts, while smartwatch sales will increase 28% in units and 22% in revenue ($3.7 billion). The market for smart home devices, including thermostats, smoke and CO2 detectors, locks and light switches, will reach 8.9 million units (up 21%) and $1.2 billion in revenue, according to CTA.
Wearables
The wearables category emerged at 2014 CES, took off in 2015, and continued to evolve in form and function this year, with many technology, sports and fashion sector brands expanding their offerings through licensing and other partnerships, including:
- Samsung showed new designs for its Gear S2 smartwatch, including editions in 18K rose gold and platinum. It also is adding watch straps from designers including Colombo and watch faces with Peanuts characters and artworks from Keith Haring, Jean-Michael Basquiat, Jeremyville and Burton Morris.
- Huawei introduced new crystal-encrusted smartwatches for women designed in partnership with Swarovski AG.
- Smart shoes look to be a growing category of wearable technology and Intel and New Balance at CES announced a collaboration to develop wearable technology for athletes. When making the announcement, New Balance CEO Rob DeMartini wore running shoes featuring customized 3D printed midsoles enabled by Intel technology. The companies also are developing a smart sport watch for the 2016 holiday season.
- Under Armour is partnering with HTC for its Healthbox 24/7 fitness monitoring kit and with JBL for wireless headphones designed for high intensity workouts. UA also will bring to market its first smart shoes, the SpeedForm Gemini 2, which will store data so that users don’t need another device to track workouts.
- Intel and Luxottica Group’s Oakley brand gave a first look at their smart glasses featuring a voice-activated, real-time coaching system designed for runners and cyclists.
- MasterCard and Coin have partnered to bring MasterCard payments to a wide array of wearables devices, beginning with fitness trackers from Atlas Wearables and Moov, and smart watches from Omate.
Property | Granted to | Products |
---|---|---|
Roku | TCL | 4K UHD TVs |
House of Marley | HoMedics | Turntable, headphones, Bluetooth speakers |
Sharp/Sharp AQUOS | Hisense | HD and 4K UHD TVs |
RCA | On Corp | TVs |
RCA | Curtis | Smartphones |
RCA | Alco | Tablets |
Limited Too | Southern Telecom | Tech accessories |
Kodak PIXPRO | JK Imaging | Digital cameras |
Major League Baseball | Le Sports | Live streaming in China |
Smart home
While smart home products are still a small market, we have to believe it will be an increased area of licensing for a wide range of consumer brands in the coming years.
Some of the activity at CES included:
- First Alert introduced a new brand, Onelink by First Alert, that uses Apple HomeKit technology in a range of home monitoring devices including a Wi-Fi Smoke + CO alarm, currently in stores, and a Wi-Fi thermostat and safe.
- Samsung positioned products as diverse as its TVs and refrigerators as hubs of home connectivity. The company’s Family Hub Refrigerator includes a 21.5 inch full HD LCD screen and three cameras inside the fridge that can be accessed with a smartphone app to answer the burning question “Do we need milk?” while at the supermarket.
- Additional companies and technologies continue to sign on to the Works with Nest campaign using the Nest Thermostat and Nest Cam as centers of home connectivity.
Virtual Reality
The buzz around virtual reality continues to build, nowhere more so than at CES. Even with the technology in its infancy for the consumer market due to cost (Oculus Rift disappointed gamers by announcing at CES that its headset will come to market in March priced at a higher than expected $600) and lack of content as of yet, VR is already offering some more immersive ways for consumers to interact with brands and entertainment and sports properties.
In VR news from CES:
- Home improvement retailer Lowe’s showcased its Holoroom in-store and in-home design tool that enables consumers to experience potential home improvement designs in VR. Using Oculus Rift technology in-store and Google Cardboard viewers that give customers a take-home VR experience, the Lowe’s Holoroom is now in select stores in Ohio and Colorado and will be installed in 12 additional stores across the U.S. in 2016.
- 20th Century Fox followed up its 2015 “Wild VR Experience” with this year’s “The Martian VR Experience,” a 20-minute interactive companion piece to the blockbuster film, executive produced by Ridley Scott. It will be available to consumers who want to experience life stranded on Mars this year on Oculus Rift, the HTC Vive and PlayStation VR.
Startup STRIVR Labs, which markets a VR platform for college and professional sports training, is moving into the consumer market, where its new Fan Experience and VR Production division has worked with Madison Square Garden and the New York Rangers to create for fans the experience of playing as a Rangers goalie. In December, STRIVR also partnered with Visa, Bank of America, and the New England Patriots to create an exclusive game day VR experience that allowed fans see the Patriots practice through the eyes of a player.