New research (here) from our Wearables (WDE) team shows fitnessband shipments slumped -40% YoY worldwide in the final quarter of 2021.

The fitband market is tanking.

Three main reasons for this include a lack of feature innovation in the category, uninspiring hardware styling for the wrist, and product substitution / upgrade by superior smartwatches at higher pricepoints.

Can the downtrend be reversed in 2022?

Maybe... with deep price cuts or a styling revolution.

But it will not be easy. The swing to smartwatches (like Apple Watch) is very strong. Key fitband players, such as Xiaomi Mi Band, have a huge fight on their hands to stop the rot in the category this year.