Worldwide shipments of wearable devices is on track to grow 15.1 percent in 2018, totaling 132.9 million units over the course of the year, according to an IDC report.

The overall market is also expected to deliver a compound annual growth rate of 13.4 percent over the next five years, culminating in 219.4 million units shipped in 2022. With cellular connectivity on the rise and shifting consumer preferences, IDC believes smartwatches will account for almost two out of every five wearable devices shipped in 2022.

"Consumers are finally starting to understand and demand the utility of a smartwatch," Jitesh Ubrani senior research analyst for IDC Mobile Device Trackers, said in the release. "At present, fitness uses lead by a mile but mobile payments and messaging are starting to catch on. The addition of cellular connectivity is also starting to resonate with early adopters and looking ahead the emergence of new use cases like music streaming or additional health sensors will make cellular connectivity pivotal to the success of the smartwatch."

Over half of all smartwatches in 2017 were shipped by Apple, and while the company will maintain its lead in this category, competing products from the likes of Fitbit, Garmin, and all the Wear OS (previously Android Wear) vendors will gain traction over time, according to the report.

Another growing sub-segment within this category are smartwatches dedicated to kids, though these will largely be relegated to China. Smartwatches are also expected to have the highest average selling price and are forecast to account for more than two-thirds of the dollar-value of the entire wearables market.

Other wearables the report focused on include: 

• Basic watches are expected to grow over the course of the forecast with a CAGR of 16.4 percent as new vendors and fashionable designs drive the category forward. 
• The low-cost, commoditized hardware of basic wristbands will continue to hold their place in emerging markets. These wearables are expected to account for 22 percennt of all wearables shipped in 2022, down from 36 percent in 2018.
• Earwear wearables are forecast to ship 13.3 million units by the end of 2022 with a 48.0 percent CAGR from 2018–2022. 
• Sensor-laden clothing is on track to grow from 2 percent share in 2017 to 5.3 percent share by 2022. To date, this category has been driven by step-counting shoes from the likes of Li-Ning or Under Armour that mostly cater to average consumers.