There are a number of loose ends to tie up before wearables will see mainstream adoption in SA, say experts.
The high cost of wearables combined with SA's patchy mobile data availability may put a damper on wearable devices such as smartwatches for the moment, at least in the mainstream, says Mornay Leander, user experience consultant at ThoughtWorks.
Yet Lee Naik, MD digital at Accenture SA, says potential consumer demand for wearables in SA is promising. "South Africans are already very mobile-savvy, and in fact, currently, more South Africans own a mobile device than any other device," Naik says. SA consumers also spend a larger portion of their wage on electronics than in many other countries, and are one of the most prominent consumer groups of mobile data in the world, he adds.
Yet while SA consumers are relatively mobile-savvy, many are still using feature phones, and "more advanced wearable devices are still far from cheap", Naik notes.
Awesome, or awkward?
Establishing the social acceptability of wearable devices will also be a challenge, says Leander.
Smartwatches are not a massive social leap, because they resemble already-accepted devices, namely smartphones and traditional wristwatches - but other wearable devices, such as Google Glass, carry the cost of being socially awkward to use because they are different, conspicuous, and in this way can be embarrassing.
Naik agrees that it sometimes takes time for users to become accustomed to the presence of new technology forms.
Establishing the unique use value of devices such as smartwatches is also an important step in spurring their adoption, says Leander.
With smartwatches specifically, app developers must avoid falling into the trap of replicating smartphone functionality onto a second screen, he explains.
Business benefits
Wearables in the workplace can greatly increase employees' productivity, and employees should be made aware of this to encourage their uptake of wearables, says Naik.
Leander suggests companies hasten the uptake of wearables with internal reward schemes that offer employees these devices as an incentive to meet certain metrics.
Yet the sluggishness of wearables' adoption in SA could provide businesses with valuable time to adjust. A wider range of devices in use means a wider range of security concerns for businesses, notes Leander. The segregation of data on devices put to such constant and intimate personal and business use could also prove tricky, especially with regards to POPI compliance, he adds.
"South African businesses will have to manoeuvre some obstacles before large-scale adoption will start. But these obstacles are minor when considered in perspective of the potential benefits the technology can bring."
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