The level of interest from developers in wearable computing platforms has seen a nine-fold increase in the past year, according to Strategy Analytics.

Of the 1,700 developers quizzed by the analyst firm, 27 per cent said they intend to create apps for wearable devices in the next year. This compares to 3 per cent that said they have experimented with wearable apps this year.

The analyst firm forecast that the market for wearable devices — such as smart watches and Google Glass — will reach 125 million units in 2017, driven by a raft of innovative new apps.

David MacQueen, executive director Apps & Media research, noted that consumers still need to be convinced about why they should buy wearable devices but the increasing number of apps for the hardware should change this.

“We’re sure to see the sort of innovation which has driven the smartphone apps market forward and this will help drive consumer uptake of the devices themselves,” MacQueen said.

Google last week offered a sneak preview of its Glass Development Kit, while smart watches from Sony, Samsung, Pebble and Qualcomm are set to be joined by a similar device from Chinese vendor ZTE.

Matt Wilkins, director of the Tablets & Wearables practice at Strategy Analytics, said “pioneering vendors” such as Google and Samsung will be joined by “key vendors” Apple and Microsoft in a second wave of wearable devices.