The Android Wear app surpassed 10 million installs earlier this week, as revealed by its recently updated listing on the Google Play Store. The actual number of active Android Wear-powered devices is presumed to be higher since the figure doesn’t include iPhone users for obvious reasons and doesn’t account for owners of multiple wearables. The number may also be somewhat inflated since the Android Wear app can be downloaded even without a compatible wearable but that scenario doesn’t seem likely.
Following its debut in early 2014, Android Wear went through several iterations and powered dozens of smartwatches from manufacturers like ASUS, LG, Huawei, Fossil, and Sony. Even Samsung gave the platform a try with the Gear Live but ultimately ended up committing to its own Tizen operating system. Early estimates put the shipments of Android Wear devices at north of 700,000 units in the first six months of their availability, so the ecosystem gained additional traction if it managed to grow to approximately 10 million devices after two and a half years. Android Wear still isn’t considered the dominant wearable platform in the world as this product category remains largely reliant on fitness trackers made by likes of Fitbit, Samsung, and Xiaomi, whereas smartwatches remain a somewhat niche category that primarily caters to tech enthusiasts.
Unlike smartphones, wearables also haven’t been enjoying a steady pace of technological advancements in recent years, discouraging even existing customers from upgrading to new devices as most consumers saw little point in doing so, according to some industry watchers. While Google was repeatedly called upon to give the platform an additional push by delivering something in the vein of a Pixel Watch, the company has yet to launch such a solution, even though recent reports indicate that at least one of its divisions is now developing unspecified wearables. With some wearable manufacturers like ASUS and Sony essentially giving up on this product segment in recent times, the future of the platform remains uncertain. At the same time, fitness trackers are said to be gaining additional momentum and are expected to become the first wearable category to start enjoying mainstream popularity.