Smartwatches are a subset of the wearable electronics market that includes fitness, health-monitoring, monitoring the elderly and law enforcement (tracking).

“The convenience aspect of using a watch for interaction while leaving the larger-screen phone or tablet in the bag or pocket is something that users can relate to and probably recognise its value,” Ms. Zimmermann said.

However, there are still several significant barriers to mainstream adoption, including low interest and awareness among consumers, poor design and price, she added.

Currently, due to lack of innovative design, most smartwatches have not achieved mass-market appeal. Majority of products that have been designed or launched so far have displays that many consumers may find “unstylish” due to the product’s bulkiness.

Gartner said vendors should try to find a balance between an appealing (slim) design and long battery life as both aspects play a significant role in consumers’ purchasing decisions.

“Users expect more than just mere convenience from a new product category that claims to be innovative and priced at $200 to $300. The same price will fund basic tablets with a good feature set,” Ms. Zimmermann said.

For the coming holiday season, users are more likely to pick the basic tablet option rather than a smartwatch as the value proposition is clearer, she added.

In September this year, Samsung unveiled its Galaxy Gear smartwatch and introduced the same in India for 22,990, while Sony launched SmartWatch 2 (successor to SmartWatch) at 14,990.

Qualcomm will launch its Toq smartwatch (available from December 2) for $349.99, while reports suggest that Apple may also launch its version of wearable technology soon.

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