Noteworthy in 2021

Smartwatches and smart home devices are most popular with females and affluents.

• Smartwatch and smart wristband penetration saw a substantial uptick in Turkey in 2021. Smartwatch ownership rose from 15.2% of internet users to 21.6%, while penetration of smart wristbands rose 4 percentage points to 12.9%. Both devices were more common among females than males, but adoption—perhaps predictably—peaked among affluents.
• In H1 2021, the share of internet users ages 16 to 64 owning a smart home product—such as a remote-controlled energy consumption monitor—had barely increased at 16.5%. As in prior years, females were more likely than males to own a smart home product, but that gap had narrowed. Among affluent internet users, nearly 22% owned a smart home device this year.
• However, internet users are already more likely to use a voice assistant than to own a smartwatch, smart wristband, or smart home device. Some 22.0% of those polled in H1 2021 had used a voice tool such as Siri or Cortana, or a smart speaker, to search for information during the prior week, and 15.7% had used voice to complete an action or task. Penetration was greater in affluent households.