Wearable Technology market is booming, set to be worth $156 bn by 2024: Report

27 October 2022: In the past, wearables were not considered to be reliable enough for clinical applications, or even general wellness monitoring. However, that sentiment is beginning to change as the technology is becoming more advanced regarding sensor accuracy. So, the wearable technology market is booming. The sector is expected to grow by 24.6% each year between 2020 and 2024 to reach a huge $156 billion, as per a recent report by GlobalData.

Medical wearables can be used to detect heart rate, blood pressure, and other vital signs. By sending this data to the cloud for real-time analysis, wearable medical devices can help with predictive diagnosis. For instance, advising a patient to go to the hospital based on an irregular heartbeat.

The smartwatches and hearables segments are the largest within the wearables market and have shown the most significant growth. Apple is the largest player in the hearables segment, having held a 36% market share in 2021, and the smartwatch market, seeing a 29% share as of Q2 2022. Apple has been steadily working its way into the medical wearable space since 2018 when the apple watch series 4 first gained FDA approval for its ECG capabilities making it a class 2 medical device. In future, Apple is expected to grow its presence in the cardiology wearables market in addition to its dominance in consumer wearables.

GlobalData’s latest report, ‘Internet of Things – Thematic Research’, reveals that wearables are expected to play a larger role in the medical and healthcare sector due to an aging global population, growth in remote patient care and increased use of internet of things (IoT) in hospitals. While this has so far largely been driven by consumer fitness trackers, as people sought to keep fit at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, the leading data and analytics company notes that these devices are expected to play a much larger role in the medical and healthcare sectors moving forward.

Commenting on the trend, Aidan Robertson, Medical Analyst at GlobalData, said “Not only did the pandemic show the considerable value in wearable tech for the average consumer concerned about their overall health, but it highlighted the many advantages for its use in a hospital setting. Already, an automated remote monitoring system which tracked vital signs was piloted in the Netherlands to see if it can reduce patient visits during Covid-19 pandemic. As the aging population becomes more of a burden on the healthcare framework, products such as remote patient monitoring devices and mobile health apps will become more lucrative.”