Wearables Market Trends
“Hearables” help to drive growth in healthcare tracking.
Growth drivers for wearables in 2019 include more applications for hearable devices and stronger tracker integration into the healthcare market. In 2018, wearable shipments rose 27.5% overall, with 172.2 million products shipped. Greater sales of ear-worn wearables and a 54.3% increase in smartwatches are the main contributors for growth, according to data by International Data Corporation. In the United States, the number of smartwatches sold in 2019 is predicted to grow by 25% over last year, per the Consumer Technology Association.
Senior research analyst for IDC Mobile Device Trackers, Jitesh Ubrani, said, “The healthcare market is quickly becoming the next frontier for wearables brands to conquer.” Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, told CNBC’s Jim Cramer, “On health care, in particular your well-being . . . if you zoom out into the future, and . . . ask the question, ÔÇÿWhat was Apple’s greatest contribution to mankind?,’ it will be about health.”
Shirley Eichenberger-Archer, JD, MA
Shirley Eichenberger-Archer, JD, MA, is an internationally acknowledged integrative health and mindfulness specialist, best-selling author of 16 fitness and wellness books translated into multiple languages and sold worldwide, award-winning health journalist, contributing editor to Fitness Journal, media spokesperson, and IDEA's 2008 Fitness Instructor of the Year. She's a 25-year industry veteran and former health and fitness educator at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, who has served on multiple industry committees and co-authored trade books and manuals for ACE, ACSM and YMCA of the USA. She has appeared on TV worldwide and was a featured trainer on America's Next Top Model.
