Wearable technology has gained significant traction owning to advancements in AI, Machine Learning, Internet of Things, cloud computing, Big Data and data analytics. Such technology is being increasingly adopted by the healthcare industry for bringing innovation in various medical equipment and instruments, seamless management of health data and patient records, and pharmacy advancement.
Wearable devices, including fitness trackers and ear-worn devices, have been witnessing solid momentum with growing emphasis on health and fitness, as these aid in accurate personal health monitoring.
Per a Research and Markets report, shipment volume of smart wearables globally is projected to reach 776.23 million units by 2026, registering a CAGR of 19.48% during the period of 2021-2026.
Additionally, increasing interest in health and wellness monitoring, owing to rising health concerns induced by COVID-19, is spurring growth in the wearable market. According to the latest Gartner report, spending on wearable devices across the world is expected to reach $81.5 billion in 2021, suggesting growth of 18.1% year over year.
Moreover, smart watches connected to the Internet are gaining rapid adoption as they offer a wide range of features such as time, health monitoring and fitness tracking, calls and messages, entertainment, cardless payments, and connectivity to other IoT devices to improve the quality of the user’s life.
The global smart watch market is expected to increase from $49.74 billion in 2020 to $59.02 billion in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.7%, per a Research and Markets report. The market is expected to reach $99.84 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 14%.
Given the upbeat scenario, tech giants such as Apple AAPL, Alphabet GOOGL, Amazon AMZN, Garmin GRMN and Peloton PTON are putting in strong efforts to capitalize on the above-mentioned factors. Hence, the tech-driven healthcare battle has been intensifying.