The total market value for Bluetooth Smart Appcessories – hardware devices that connect to apps on smartphones and tablets - is projected to grow to over$130 billion in 2020, according to a new report, "To Ubiquity and Beyond – Bluetooth Smart and the Growth of Appcessories", published by WiFore Consulting.
Appcessories represent a new market segment, where current products such as wireless sports and fitness devices form only the tip of the iceberg. Think of a cuddly toy for a three-year-old that interacts with the story on her tablet. Or a motor and rudder you clip on a paper plane that lets you control its flight by tipping your smartphone from side to side. LED lights that come on when you enter the room, whose color and brightness you can change, or which sense your mood from the way you're walking. Armbands that know you're about to point at the TV and tell it to change the channel before you even move your finger. All of these and many more will appear on the market this year. They are some of the many ideas that until recently were the preserve of science fiction, but which are about to become real, desirable and eminently affordable.
"This is the year in which Appcessories break out of the constraints of expensive sports and fitness devices and finally establish themselves as a market in their own right," said Nick Hunn, CTO of WiFore Consulting. "Bluetooth Smart capability is now in place inside over a quarter of a billion smartphones and tablets; apps developers have embraced the concept and an unprecedented level of innovation is shaping the hardware. The market is ready to explode."
