DISTREE EMEA has confirmed the inclusion of a new Wearable Technology (WT) & Connected Devices Channel Summit as part of its overall 2014 event agenda. DISTREE EMEA is the region’s leading channel event for distributors, retailers and e-tailers of ICT and consumer electronics products in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.
Farouk Hemraj, Director & Co-Founder at DISTREE Events, said: “2014 is the year when WT & Connected Devices move from hype to reality; from drawing boards to retail shelves and e-tail sites; and from niche status to become a mainstream product category with significant channel sales.”
“This important new summit will provide genuine market insight and a business development roadmap for EMEA’s volume channel partners as they look to take advantage of the opportunities around WT & Connected Devices. It will also explore how the adoption rate of WT & Connected Devices will vary across individual national markets in EMEA,” he added.
The inaugural WT & Connected Devices Channel Summit will take place in Monaco on Thursday 13th February 2014 from 14:00-16:00 as part of the DISTREE EMEA agenda. The new session will be moderated by Laurent Eymard, Co-Founder and CEO at Switzerland-based RED-DOLPHIN, a community platform dedicated to WT.
Laurent Eymard, Co-Founder & CEO at RED-DOLPHIN, commented: “RED-DOLPHIN looks forward to working with the DISTREE Events team to bring together the sector’s leading analysts with innovative vendors, forward-thinking distributors and switched-on retailers who are ready to drive the growth of WT & Connected Devices across EMEA in 2014 and beyond.”
DISTREE EMEA provides a platform for hundreds of ICT & CE brands to showcase their latest products to the region’s most influential channel partners. From start-ups to A-brands, DISTREE EMEA has become a ‘must attend’ event for all vendors looking to manage, build or launch regional routes-to-market.
An increasing number of vendors exhibiting at DISTREE EMEA are exploring new opportunities in the WT & Connected Devices product categories. Juniper Research estimated that the global market for mobile smart wearable devices will be worth US$19 billion per annum by 2018, up from US$1.4 billion in 2013. Rapid growth in retail sales will be driven by high price points and strong demand for multifunctional smartwatches and smartglasses, according to the research house.
Recent consumer research by GfK showed that although awareness is high, products like Google Glass and smartwatches were still priced out of reach from those they appealed to most. GfK claimed that price remains a major barrier for mass take-up of WT, particularly for 16-24 year olds.
Hemraj added: “We are looking not only to drive the development of WT & Connected Devices as a channel growth opportunity, but also to understand and question how this market will develop over time. There are still many unanswered questions such as how effective major smartphone companies can be in leveraging their brand loyalty into the WT & Connected Devices space.”
All registered DISTREE EMEA 2014 delegates, which includes distributors, retailers and e-tailers from 80-plus countries, will have the opportunity to attend the WT & Connected Devices Channel Summit.
