Page 13 - EE Times Europe March 2022

EE|Times EUROPE 13

TELEMEDICINE
Will Wearables Be the Pulse of Tomorrow’s

Health Care?

By Anne-Françoise Pelé

he patient-doctor relationship is built firm’s “Mobile Accessories and Wearables Market Share and Forecasts”
on trust, but today, it is increasingly market study, with a focus on the deployment of health-care devices
enriched by real-time physiological and the opportunities offered by wireless connectivity.
Tpatient data collected through health-
care wearables. The Covid-19 pandemic has EE TIMES EUROPE: Of the 344.9 million wearables expected to
paved the way for growth in the wearables be shipped this year, what proportion are health and wellness
market, and for the health-care industry, there wearable devices? And how would you characterize their growth
will be no turning back. over time?
Advances in sensors, power manage- Filomena Iovino: Wearables have become another weapon to track,
ment, wireless connectivity, and artificial monitor, and fight the progression of Covid-19 and its symptoms
intelligence are already enabling millions ABI Research’s worldwide. Therefore, there has been fast growth in the wearables
of patients around the world to track and Filomena Iovino market, especially for health-care devices. With health continuing to be
manage their chronic health conditions with at the forefront of use cases for wearables, the health-care wearables
non-invasive devices small enough to wear on the wrist or other parts market reached 37.3 million shipments in 2021 and is expected to [rise
of the body. That’s just the beginning: According to a recent study to] 107.43 million shipments worldwide in 2026.
from technology intelligence firm ABI Research, the number of wear- The global sports, fitness, and wellness trackers market is expected
ables is on an upward curve that is not about to reverse itself. to increase unit shipments from 123.37 million in 2021 to
In 2020, the number of wearables shipped
worldwide increased to 259.63 million units, Market Share of Health and Wellness Wearable Devices by Year (% of total wearables market)
with sports, fitness, and wellness trackers
accounting for 112.15 million and smart- Device Type 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
watches 74.30 million, the study found. In Healthcare Devices 12.2% 13.7% 15.4% 16.9% 17.9% 18.8%
2021, 304.69 million wearables were shipped Sports, Fitness, and Wellness Trackers 43.2% 40.5% 37.9% 35.0% 31.8% 28.9%
worldwide. In 2022, the wearables market is (Source: ABI Research)
expected to reach 344.9 million shipments
globally, logging a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.2%, 147.17 million in 2026, at a CAGR of 3.6% during the forecast period.
according to ABI Research. The decrease in the CAGR [from year to year over the forecast period]
Wearables span diverse application domains, ranging from sports is attributed to market demand and growth going back to pre-Covid-19
and entertainment to health care and even military gear. In a discus- levels once the pandemic is over. However, the increasing health
sion with EE Times Europe, Filomena Iovino, research analyst for 5G awareness, the penetration of the internet and smartphones, and tech-
devices, smartphones, and wearables at ABI, shared the results of the nological advancements will continue to fuel the market.

Wearable Device Shipments by Type
250 Wearable Cameras (Millions)

225 Smartwatches (Millions)
200 Hybrid Watches (Millions)

175
Smart Home-Enabled Smartwatches (Millions)
150
Healthcare Devices (Millions)
Millions 125 Sports, Fitness, and Wellness Trackers
100 (Millions)
Activity Trackers (Millions)
75
Smart Home-Enabled Sports, Fitness, and
50 Wellness Trackers (Millions)
25 Smart Clothing (Millions)
0
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

(Source: ABI Research)

www.eetimes.eu | MARCH 2022