The consumer market for wearable technology is in a period of rapid growth. According to Statista (http://nnw.fm/vYNE4), sales of wearables exceeded $2 billion in 2015, and forecasts call for sales of more than $4 billion in 2017. This growth is, of course, being led by some heavy hitters in the tech industry. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) launched its Apple Watch to much fanfare in April 2015, and, according to Juniper Research (http://nnw.fm/5TAqW), the company had successfully secured 52 percent market share in the burgeoning smartwatch space by the end of that calendar year. In recent months, however, sales have begun to slow. According to a report from market research firm IDC, Apple Watch sales have already dropped 55 percent since the product’s launch, likely due to anticipated hardware updates in the coming months.
Apple is far from alone in its efforts to bring innovation to the wearable technology space. Google (NASDAQ: GOOG; GOOGL) also entered the market with its innovative Google Glass prototype smart glasses back in 2013. Although the company announced intentions to discontinue sales of the product in January 2015, it would be shortsighted to refer to the project as an outright failure. Shortly after Google’s announcement last year, AugmentedReality.org predicted that sales of smart glasses would reach $1 billion in shipments by 2020 and surpass shipments of mobile phones within the next decade (http://nnw.fm/t0bH4). Meanwhile, Google has remained committed to leading future developments in the space, filing an application with the FCC for a new version of Google Glass in December 2015 (http://nnw.fm/6wqDj).
Alongside Apple and Google, other global tech leaders have thrown their hats into the wearables ring with varying degrees of success. Samsung (OTC: SSNLF), in particular, has illustrated some of the difficulties presented to established firms in targeting the wearables crowd. Despite being one of the first major tech companies to enter the wearables market, Samsung held just over eight percent of the market in 2015, according to IDC (http://nnw.fm/Uep27). The research firm expects this figure to fall to just 2.8 percent by 2019.
For investors looking to capitalize on the growth of the wearables market without being exposed to the greater tech industry, pure plays also exist. Fitbit (NYSE: FIT) is one example of a pure wearables play with a sizable share of the burgeoning market. Fitbit’s revenues have been on the rise in recent quarters, and sales more than doubled during 2015. According to an article on The Motley Fool (http://nnw.fm/Od59n), the wearables specialist is currently on track to grow an additional 35 percent this year. Still, investing in the future of Fitbit isn’t exactly cheap. The company’s PPS is currently hovering at around $14.80.
GTX Corp. (OTC: GTXO) is a more approachable option for investors seeking to diversify their portfolios in order to cash in on the forecast wearables boom. A self-described ‘pioneer in IoT wearable technology’, GTXO offers comprehensive end-to-end solutions that include location-based hardware, middleware, apps and related professional services. The company’s flagship product is the award-winning GPS SmartSole, which aims to improve the lives of the roughly six million Americans currently living with Alzheimer’s and Dementia, as well as their caregivers. By embedding a GPS tracking device into a comfortable insole, GTXO’s GPS SmartSole provides peace of mind to family members without the need for separate tracking devices and the obtrusiveness and stigma that are often associated with them.
Earlier this month, GTX Corp. released its financial results for the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2016, which included promising growth. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 36 percent over the previous year, while subscriber revenue increased 133 percent year-over-year. In total, GTXO boasts active subscribers in more than 35 countries around the globe. The company intends to build on these results by adding new customers and subscribers, as well as through a new initiative designed to monetize its numerous intellectual property assets. In line with these initiatives, GTXO recently entered into two new master distribution agreements that will allow the company to scale distribution in certain vertical markets without significantly increasing operational expenses. Key to these efforts will be GTX Corp.’s ability to secure the capital required to keep up with market growth, as alluded to by CEO Patrick Bertagna in a recent news release.
“Lack of sufficient capital for inventory, human resources and infrastructure has been a challenge since our launch last year. It has limited our ability to order appropriate inventory thereby limiting our ability to grow as quickly as we would like,” he stated. “We believe that our increased margins and revenues, along with the new monetization IP campaign, will begin to ease our capital shortage problem. Having said that, we remain focused on building brand and product awareness on a global scale, growing our channels of distribution and increasing sales, subscription revenues and margins in all our product categories.”
For more information, visit www.GTXCorp.com
