Oyster Bay, New York - 14 Sep 2016 While consumers may immediately think of fitness trackers when they picture wearables, the devices are quickly migrating out of the gym and into the office, with the wearable scanner market experiencing rapid expansion. ABI Research forecasts enterprise wearable scanner shipments will reach nearly 22 million by 2021, increasing from just seven million in 2016. “Wearable scanners boost business productivity, offering workers a faster, hands-free alternative to the need for traditional hand-held scanners and paper picklists,” says Stephanie Lawrence, Research Analyst at ABI Research. “Ring barcode scanners, glove scanners, and smartglasses are the most popular forms, which, depending on the device type, allow their wearers to scan barcodes, record processes, and access information without interruption.” Wearable ring scanners, such as those from Honeywell and Zebra, rely on a ring barcode scanner that connects to a wearable computer and allow the user to access and update information about the scanned product. Glove scanners, from manufacturers like ProGlove, provide a tracking interface for wearers to record manufacturing procedures for better quality control. Similarly, smartglasses, such as Vuzix M100 and M300, ultimately offer guided workflows, allowing the wearer to receive assistance and new instructions when required. As the devices begin to break ground across a wider variety of enterprises, ABI Research predicts more companies, including Amazon, Boeing, DHL, FedEx, IBM, UPS, and View Technologies, will invest in them. The warehousing, manufacturing, and transportation industries will see the largest adoption of wearable scanners for 2016 to 2021. During this period, most of these companies will use the wearable scanners to scan barcodes on packages when they are picked, packed, and moved. In the long term, ABI Research expects these devices to improve efficiency and streamline workflow processes. “Enterprise wearable scanner and reader technologies provide the ability to achieve faster throughput with greater accuracy and minimal re-work using only entry-level applications,” concludes Ryan Martin, Senior Analyst at ABI Research. “But whether talking about employee utilization, OPEX cost reduction, or the democratization of decision-making authority across a more informed and evenly-distributed set of stakeholders, it is clear that these technologies will continue to have horizontal market appeal.” The findings are from ABI Research’s Enterprise Wearable Scanner and Reader Technologies. This report is part of the company’s Enterprise IT & OT Convergence, IoT, IoE & M2M, Transformative Technology, and Wearables & Devices sectors, which include research, data, and analyst insights. About ABI Research ABI Research provides strategic guidance to visionaries, delivering actionable intelligence on the transformative technologies that are dramatically reshaping industries, economies, and workforces across the world. ABI Research's global team of analysts publish groundbreaking studies often years ahead of other technology advisory firms, empowering our clients to stay ahead of their markets and their competitors. ABI Research提供开创性的研究和战略指导，帮助客户了解日新月异的技术。 自1990年以来，我们已与全球数百个领先的技术品牌，尖端公司，具有远见的政府机构以及创新的贸易团体建立了合作关系。 我们帮助客户创造真实的业务成果。 For more information about ABI Research's services, contact us at +1.516.624.2500 in the Americas, +44.203.326.0140 in Europe, +65.6592.0290 in Asia-Pacific or visit www.abiresearch.com.
The market for wearable scanner technology is growing, with shipments forecast to increase threefold to 22 million by 2021, according to a report by ABI Research. Industries such as manufacturing and transportation are predicted to continue adopting wearable scanner tech like ring barcode scanners, glove scanners and smart glasses, which is expected to boost efficiency and productivity for companies including Amazon, FedEx and DHL.