The wireless charging for wearable accessories industry is still in its infancy, but it appears as though the growth in the wearables market will help to drive growth significantly in the next few years. According to research firm IHS, 2015 is expected to become a banner year for wearable device wireless charging accessories, growing from US$15 million in 2014 to US$480 million in 2015, a 32 times increase. This massive hike is expected to be driven by sales of Apple’s Watch, which is expected to account for about 70 percent of the growth.

While the overall growth is expected to be a boon for accessory makers, a note of caution has to be raised. Even if the Apple Watch is as successful as Apple hopes it is, the wearable uses Apple’s proprietary MagSafe charging protocol, and it remains to be seen if Apple will choose to license the technology to outside vendors. Even if outside vendors reverse-engineer the technology and interface protocols, users may run into problems, since Apple will often use authentication technology to disable interoperability with non-licensed products.

Even if this is the case, however, IHS believes that the Watch and other wearables will demonstrate the value of wireless charging for wearables enough to raise the market significantly. In fact, it seems likely that other wearable manufacturers will use true “drop and charge” charging accessories to differentiate from the Apple Watch – at present, MagSafe charging still requires a cord to be connected to an Apple Watch in order to work. This differs from most wireless charging solutions that allow the user to just drop a device on a pad and walk away, and opens the door for other manufacturers to address other wearables in a more user-friendly fashion.

In short, even if the Apple Watch itself is not an opportunity for third-party accessory makers, its presence in the market may grow the category enough to make a big difference in sales in 2015.