By Telecom Lead Team: Nike, Adidas, and Motorola are
expected to drive wearable sports and fitness devices market that will touch 90
million in 2017.
ABI Research said the market for wearable sports and
fitness activity sensors is set to explode over the next few years as a new
generation of devices collect and automatically share data online.
Nike, Adidas, and Motorola are some of the companies to
recently launch new wearable wireless products and there are plenty more to
follow them.
Mobile handset accessory vendors, consumer electronics
companies, fitness management service offerings, and online services providers
will all join a market that has long been the preserve of specialist, high-end
vendors such as Polar and Garmin.
Sports, fitness, and well-being applications will be the
key engine of growth in the wearable wireless healthcare market as demand for a
new wave of devices will be driven not just by growing consumer interest and
awareness but also by increased competition and support for a raft of new
applications,” said principal analyst Jonathan Collins, ABI Research.
Over the next five years, the total market for wearable
wireless devices in sports and healthcare will grow to 169.5 million devices in
2017, up from 20.77 million in 2011, a CAGR of 41 percent.
Strong growth will take place within home monitoring
applications for assisted living, remote patient care to help manage chronic
conditions, and within hospitals and clinics.
At the heart of this growth will be ultra-low power
wireless connectivity from wearable devices to mobile phones through support
for Bluetooth Smart in handsets and devices.
Leveraging mobile handsets to provide automated online
data access opens up the wearable wireless market to real-time online
connectivity. Although not the only option, standardization around Bluetooth
Smart will be the bedrock of this market growth.
A whole host of companies in the sports and medical
device market, as well as online services companies, are going to have to add
or extend their offerings and services to support a new wave of wearable sensor
connectivity.
