Researchers at Canalys estimate that 7.5 million connected smartwatches will ship this year. The analysts at Canalys believe Apple Watch will spearhead the smartwatch industry growth, which is estimated to grow at an annual rate of 63 per cent from 2016 to 2020.

Smartwatches, in their current state are nothing more than a device to see mobile notifications on their wrist and Canalys predicts that could change with Apple Watch 2. According to a report on ZDNet, the next generation Apple Watch could launch with built-in connectivity feature.

The next-generation Apple Watch could arrive later this year. Most smartwatches (including Apple Watch) are tethered to a mobile device via Bluetooth or WiFi, and adding cellular connectivity might just give the device a new use case.

Canalys predicts connected smartwatch shipments will reach 7.5 million units in 2016 (Source: Canalys)

At I/O 2016, Google announced Android Wear 2.0 which puts more focus on cellular connected Android Wear smartwatches. LG already sells a standalone cellular capable version of its Watch Urbane LTE smartwatch.

Samsung, which uses its own Tizen OS for its smartwatches, recently announced Gear S2 Classic in a cellular connected version as well.

Smartwatches which have been around for quite sometime now have not yet reached mainstream appeal like smartphones. With cellular connectivity, the smartwatches could appeal to more users. And it won’t be surprising if the Apple Watch too joins the band-wagon.

[source;indianexpress]