Smartwatches
The biggest flaw is and will continue to be battery life; a smartwatch is just another thing you need to charge before you go to bed every night. If you start running apps like Run Keeper to track a morning workout, you won’t be showing off your flashy timepiece at the cocktail party that night.
Android Wear
Android Wear is the current market leader. Battery life is still somewhat problematic. However, tight integration with notifications, Google Now, and a lower price point make these product very attractive. Furthermore, with rounded designs coming from LG and Moto, these smartwatches actually resemble watches. While the first generation had its hiccups with respect to comfort, we expect next generation lead by to represent serious competitors to Apple Watch in Q1 2015.
Apple Watch
This won't be a slam dunk like the iPod, iPhone, or iPad. Like current Android Wear devices, it will suffer from mediocre battery life and require a nightly charge. To create more hype, Apple will probably limit initial supply, and ultimately sell around 2-3M devices. As with other smartwatches, the watch will be a nice-to-have and not a need-to-have.
Fitness Trackers
While the market for fitness trackers has exploded this past year, there is a dirty little secret that most people aren’t talking about: more than half of US consumers who have owned an activity tracker no longer use it. A third of them took less than six months from unboxing the device to shoving it in a drawer or fobbing it off on a relative. This suggests the devices are more for teaching users about their habits than providing them with daily monitoring. After some time, people learn enough about their activity levels and eating habits to not need a device to monitor their well being. But at the end of the day, even if you only use it for a few months, isn't a couple hundred dollars worth possibly adding years to your life?
Health
The global medical wearable electronics market generated $2.8Bn in revenue in 2014. It is expected to cross $8.3 billion in 2019, growing at a healthy CAGR of 17.7% according to Mordor Intelligence. These devices use high grade, medically precise sensors that are related to specific health conditions includeing heart conditions, diabetes, blood pressure and much more. The question will be how/if insurance companies and healthcare providers buy in to the devices for both prevention and treatment.