Wearable devices are on the rise now but, by 2016, their functionality will be absorbed by other devices such as smartphones and sensor-laden headphones, according to Forrester Research VP and principal analyst James McQuivey.
McQuivey said this is another possible reason why Apple acquired Beats.
He noted that a stunning number of new devices -- the PDA, the digital camera, and the MP3 player -- have all risen to prominence only to collapse into specialty niches in a way that prior generations of technology did not.
“Take the eReader for instance,” said McQuivey. “Over 25 million people in the US owned eReaders in 2012, just five years after Amazon released the original Kindle, but its fall will be just as pronounced and rapid.”
Based on Forrester's World eReader And eBook Forecast, US users will drop to a mere 7 million by year-end 2017.
McQuivey observed that digital technology has disrupted device life cycles and fundamentally changed the rules of "rise and fall." He also predicts a similar fate for home automation and control, virtual reality, augmented reality, 3D printing, and drones.