Beyond the bracelet: Prospects for emerging wearable medical devices

Would you like to wear a fitness tracker that can record steps and sleep habits? If these fitness trackers can also integrate information about chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure, and help improve health, would you be more interested?

Although the market for wearable medical devices is still in its infancy, according to International Data Group (IDC), the global market for wearable devices will grow from 19.2 million in 2014 to nearly 120 million in 2018. Although the products on the market today only have basic functions, we believe that these wearable devices will connect health care and consumer fitness in the future. The most innovative companies have begun to take action, based on big data generated by consumer technology, to develop forward-looking applications for personalized health care services.

Although still in the development stage, investors have begun to pay attention to this area. In 2013, venture capital firms invested $450 million in the wearables sector, an 80% increase from 2012. Investment in this area is expected to continue to grow as new generation devices are added to medical technologies such as blood pressure and blood glucose monitoring. New features are also expected to make wearable devices more focused on the consumer group and may even be included in the health insurance plan.

The above is the long-term vision. In the near term, wearables are just novelty products that have not yet become a necessity, and a number of factors have limited their appeal. On the one hand, the main features of current wearable devices, such as pedometers or calorie consumption calculators, have been integrated into smartphones, so no additional equipment is needed. On the other hand, although current technologies can record data, they cannot use this data to help users improve their health management. As a result, as new users of most health and fitness mobile app (apps) stop using after two weeks, users of wearable devices may eventually put them on the shelf.

To get the attention and purchase of a broader customer base, wearable devices need better design and more powerful features. In the end, different customer groups will have different concerns depending on their needs. Some people may pay more attention to fitness, while others want to lose weight, while others may be concerned about their blood cholesterol levels, stress status or improvement in chronic disease management.

Fast-changing market

At present, the wearable device market is highly competitive and highly dispersed, and is mainly aimed at the mass consumer group. The main product on the market today is a simple wristband that is used to passively monitor user basic activity data. Products from market leaders such as Jawbone, Fitbit, Nike and Basis are able to count, calculate calorie consumption and monitor sleep quality.

However, as technology continues to advance and the boundaries between wearables and smartphones become blurred, the market is changing rapidly. As new businesses flood the market and attract consumer interest, current market leaders are likely to be marginalized or even become laggards.

A large number of new entrants, including giants such as Samsung, LG, and Garmin, have launched new motion trackers that include a range of unique features such as real-time viewing of step counts and calorie-consuming LED touch screens, integrated with smartphones to receive Call and SMS alerts, personal sports goal settings and feedback.

Sony and Apple have also joined the competition. Sony has positioned its SmartBand as a general-life lifestyle device, and the basic motion tracking capabilities are integrated into a larger “life record” framework. Apple officially released the smart watch in April 2015. The Apple Watch is equipped with a heart rate sensor and is connected to the Healthkit. Healthkit is Apple's historical health/fitness database for users, including heart rate, hydration and blood pressure.

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