科技行业亮点已经不多， 它算是其中一个

研究公司国际数据公司（International Data Corp.，IDC）的一份新报告称，智能可穿戴设备，如手表和健身追踪器的普及，将成为未来几年科技行业的亮点之一。

IDC周一发布的一份报告称，可穿戴设备发货量在2018年跃升近9%，至1.253亿部，其中包括Fitbit的追踪设备、三星（Samsung）的泰泽（Tizen）智能手表和苹果（Apple）的AirPods。该公司称，到2022年，这一市场的出货量将达到1.899亿部，平均每年增长11%。不过，与IDC今年6月的报告相比，这一预测略显保守。6月的报告预测，到2021年年底，可穿戴设备发货量将达到1.988亿部。

两个主要的趋势推动了这一增长。人们对功能日益强大的智能手表的兴趣日益增长，正推动这一领域的发展；消费者对这个发展中市场的兴趣逐渐扩大，也有助于推动低价设备的销售。

资深分析师吉特什·乌布拉尼在报告中写道：“智能可穿戴设备的兴起不仅会出现在成熟市场，还会出现在亚太地区和其他新兴市场。日本将扮演同样重要的角色，因为日本消费了所有可穿戴智能设备的三分之一以上。”

可穿戴设备的持续扩张正值科技硬件行业的关键时刻，智能手机和个人电脑的销售增长均已放缓至很低的水平。随着全球市场达到饱和点，预计2018年智能手机销量将有史以来首次出现下滑。与此同时，IDC的最新预测显示，在2022年之前，个人电脑销量预计将以每年2%的速度萎缩，这一数字在过去几年里一直是持平或下降。过去四年，平板电脑的销量一直在下降，而且没有任何改善的迹象。

IDC指出，从公司的角度来看，苹果公司仍然应该是可穿戴设备的头号软件生态系统，到2022年，其市场份额将达到近36%。许多中国制造商使用的由谷歌（Google）提供的免费软件安卓（Android）将以22%的市场份额位居第二。而谷歌专有的WearOS软件将以20%的市场份额排名第三。IDC表示，三星、Fitbit和Garmin仍将是规模较小的主要厂商。（财富中文网）

译者：冉文忠

The proliferation of smart, wearable devices like watches and fitness trackers will be one of the tech industry’s bright spots over the next few years, according to a new report from research firm International Data Corp.

Wearables shipments, which include everything from Fitbit’s trackers to Samsung’s Tizen smartwatches and Apple’s AirPods, jumped almost 9% in 2018 to 125.3 million devices, IDC said in a report released on Monday. The market will grow an average of 11% annually to reach 189.9 million devices shipped in 2022, the firm said. Still, the projection is modestly more conservative than IDC’s report back in June that forecast wearable shipments would hit 199.8 million by the end of 2021.

Two major trends are driving the growth. Growing interest in increasingly more capable smartwatches is bolstering that segment and expanded interest from consumers in developing markets is helping fuel sales of lower priced devices.

“The rise of smart wearables will not just be in mature markets, but also from emerging markets in Asia/Pacific and elsewhere,” senior analyst Jitesh Ubrani wrote in the report. “Japan will play an equally important role as they consume more than one third of all smart wearables.”

The continued expansion of wearables comes at a critical time for the tech hardware industry, as sales growth of both smartphones and personal computers have slowed to a crawl. Smartphone sales are expected to decline for the first time ever in 2018 as the global market reaches a saturation point. Meanwhile PC sales, flat or declining for several years, are projected to shrink by 2% a year through 2022, according to the most recent IDC forecast. And tablet sales have declined for the past four years, with no improvement in sight.

Viewed on a company basis, Apple should remain the top software ecosystem for wearables, with a market share of almost 36% in 2022, IDC noted. Android, the freely available software from Google used by many Chinese manufacturers, will be second with about 22% share. And Google’s more proprietary WearOS software will rank third with 20% share. Samsung, Fitbit, and Garmin will also remain prominent smaller players, IDC said.