A new report by CLSAU focused on the booming world of wearable connected devices. The nascent market for wearable devices has been rapidly expanding in recent years as movement-tracking devices and health-focused devices continue to gain mainstream acceptance in the general public.
Data Collection
The newest wave of wearable devices tracks and collects data in a number of health-relates areas: diet, vital signs, exercise, mental health, location, productivity, social interaction, sleep patterns and chronic disease monitoring.
The movement toward wearable data-collecting devices is known as the Quantified Self (QS) movement, and both companies and investors are looking to capitalize off of its growing momentum.
Fitness Band Market
Three names dominate the current fitness band market: Nike Inc’s NKE 1.35% Nike Fuel, Jawbone UP and Fitbit. Together, these three devices make up 97 percent of the fitness band market, with Fitbit accounting for more than two-thirds of the market share.
Fitness Apps
Another name currently dominates the world of fitness apps: Under Armour Inc UA 0.67%. When Under Armour purchased MyFitnessPal for $475 million, it added the top-ranked fitness app in the world. MyFitnessPal currently has more than 80 million users.
Smart clothing
Many companies are currently developing and/or marketing clothing that includes device integration that can track electrical activity in muscles, form, cadence, balance and vital signs.
Under Armour, Xephyr Technologies, Heapsylon, OMsignal, SmartLife, Footfalls and Heartbeats are just some of the names currently exploring “smart” clothing options.
The Future Of Wearable Connected Devices
With the rapidly-expanding world of fitness bands, fitness apps, smart watches and smart clothing, big names in the tech world are launching initiatives to ride the wearable device wave.
In 2014, Apple Inc.AAPL 1.13%, Microsoft Corporation MSFT 1.29%, Google Inc GOOG 1.83% GOOGL 1.98%, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd SSNLF, WebMD Health Corp. WBMD 3.07%, Royal Philips and Salesforce.com, Inc CRM 3.09% all announced that they plan on entering the wearable device market in some capacity in the near future.
This is just a small sampling of the companies that will be fighting for market share in the space.
According to CLSAU, the wearable device market could pay off in a big way for these companies, as the QS movement is projected to grow to a $12.6 billion market by 2019.
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