Smartwatch sales projected to grow 18% in 2017 as traditional watch industry suffers

A new report predicts that consumers will buy 18 percent more smartwatches in 2017 than they did the previous year, as total annual sales rise to $10 billion.

The projection comes today from market research firm Canalys. The report said that 28.5 million smartwatch units will be shipped this year. One result of that growth is that traditional watchmakers will continue to face declines in sales.

On the other hand, Canalys says that the average selling price of smartwatches continues to increase. And by the end of 2017, the value of the smartwatch market will hit about two-thirds of the traditional Swiss watch market.

The company doesn’t mention Apple Watch in the report. Instead, it attributes the increased sales to Android Wear smartwatches. The firm said it expects new versions using Android Wear will be rolled out at the watchmaker conference Baselworld 2017 later this month.

“Watchmakers’ survival will depend on creating competitive smartwatches,” said Canalys analyst Jason Low in a statement with the report. “Forming partnerships with technology companies will be the first step. A well-formulated strategy to sell a watch will play a larger role as watchmakers have to appeal not only to watch fans, but consumers who are yet to buy a wearable.”