LONDON, UK – The global wearable technology market is expected to nearly double in value by the end of the decade, fueled by growing demand for health monitoring, artificial intelligence integration and expanding device form factors.

The industry was valued at $117.4 billion in 2024 and is forecast to reach $232.2 billion by 2030. Hearables and smartwatches remain the largest contributors to revenue, supported by continued adoption of fitness tracking, health diagnostics and AI-enabled features. Smart glasses are projected to be the fastest-growing segment, driven by broader availability, enterprise use cases and multimodal AI capabilities.

GlobalData notes that emerging form factors such as smart rings are gaining traction and could displace traditional fitness trackers, while augmented and virtual reality headsets continue to face adoption challenges tied to cost, bulk and limited use cases. The report also highlights a divergence in strategy among major technology companies, with some expanding hardware portfolios while others pivot toward software and services.

Despite early hype, first-generation standalone AI wearables have struggled to gain traction, often duplicating smartphone functionality without delivering meaningful performance improvements. Instead, GlobalData expects AI capabilities to be increasingly embedded within established wearable categories, transforming devices from passive trackers into more proactive, context-aware assistants over time.

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