Wearables and home in focus at show

Samsung's Gear VR headset is part of the explosion of wearable devices. Photo / Getty Images

The IFA trade show in Berlin is traditionally where companies have launched their flagship smartphones for the second half of the year but, over the past few years, there has been a subtle shift in focus towards wearable devices and the connected home.

This year, many of the big smartphone makers have already unveiled their second-half flagship phones. Samsung, for example, has announced its Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+, so all eyes at IFA will be on its new smartwatch, the Gear S2, as well as its SmartThings connected home kit.

Motorola has announced its new waterproof Moto G phone and updated its Moto X family with two new models - the Moto X Play for more active users and the Moto X Style for people who prefer a more luxury feel. The company is expected to unveil an updated smartwatch, the Moto 360 2, at IFA, as well as a new sporty model.

Huawei has also launched its Honor 7 smartphone. However, it may use IFA to announce a new large-screen device, rumoured to be called the Mate8. The company has also teased a watch-related announcement for IFA 2015, boasting "elegance and power in perfect harmony". Meanwhile, Sony is yet to unveil its latest flagship phone. The company launched a "premium" version of its Xperia Z3 known as the Xperia Z3+ in May, but improvements were incremental, and commentators are expecting the Z5 to make an appearance at IFA - alongside a premium version with a 4K display.

LG, Philips and Panasonic are all expected to use IFA to showcase their latest smart home technology, as well as their OLED and 4K TVs. There is also talk of a new LG Watch Urbane with a high-resolution screen, and possibly even a smartphone called the G Pro 3.

Last year's show also saw an explosion of virtual reality headsets, with devices from Samsung, Sony, HTC and Facebook's Oculus VR. The HTC Vive will hit shelves before the end of the year, so the company is bound to be showing off the final production version at IFA.

The shift in focus from smartphones to wearables and smart home devices is a reflection of the technology industry's growth opportunities. Global analyst house CCS Insight predicts that the wearables market will be worth US$25 billion by 2019.

Smartwatches are the most valuable segment, representing 60 per cent of the market value, but fitness trackers remain the most popular, accounting for more than half of all wearables shipments in 2015.

"Smartwatches will remain the main source of wearables revenue, delivering over US$9 billion of sales in 2015," said Ben Wood, CCS Insight's chief of research. "Those who labelled Apple Watch a failure need to think again."