The wearables market is now expected to hit at least US$50 billion by 2022

Wearables are already expected to become a more ubiquitous and commonplace form of personal device in the immediate future. Currently, they are often seen as a smartphone companion, or as a standalone product for specific uses such as fitness tracking, activity-monitoring (an example of this may be the action-cam) or gaming (mostly in terms of virtual or augmented reality). 

However, there is also a second major category of wearable that is also now projected to become more important and prominent in the coming years: smart clothing. These products may be made of smart textiles, flexible electronics or both. They are expected to be used in applications like body-heat monitoring or control, health-tracking, energy-harvesting, device control or simple cosmetic appeal. 

These main divisions of the wearables market are now estimated to drive its value to US$51.6 billion by 2022. As this worth was calculated at $21.7 billion in 2016, this means it may grow at a compound rate of 15.1% over those 6 years. Of these, the AR and VR device segment is expected to grow at the fastest rate, and the Americas may be the most prominent in terms of regional markets.