Juniper Research: Smart Healthcare, Fitness Devices to be $1.8B Market by 2019

Annual revenues from connected healthcare and fitness services will approach $2 billion by 2019, nearly six times the $320 million value estimated for this year, according to a report from Juniper Research.

The report, “Smart Wireless Devices: CE, Enterprise, Fitness, Healthcare, Payments 2015-2019,” says that connected healthcare devices and the data they generate will offer substantial benefits to both stakeholders and consumers, potentially improving preventative healthcare. However, deployments will initially be constrained by inconsistent regulation, alongside continued privacy concerns surrounding the sharing and security of personal data.

‘Quantified Others’ are Key

 
The research highlights the “quantified others” trend: the use of someone’s data by a professional or concerned party — such as a parent — to provide meaning and/or advice. Companies like GOQii and Filip Technologies are using this to provide services beyond mere data provision.

Although, this has the potential to be undermined by unreliable data. While medical devices have validation standards, fitness devices have no such benchmark. The development of standards would alleviate consumer and medical professionals’ concerns, driving up adoption.

Software to Drive Connected Devices Forward

 
“Connected fitness and health devices provide a way to collect biometric data, not interaction platforms,” said author James Moar. “People want to interact with the devices at the app level – the draw is the information. Because of this, and the omnipresence of sensors, the importance of the hardware will diminish at a much faster rate than other CE market segments.”

Other Findings from the Report

 
Other findings were mentioned in a news release from Juniper Research, and are listed below:

• “Smart Wireless Devices will permeate the enterprise, with smart glasses in particular having a large impact.”
• “Mobile point-of-sale devices are poised to take off in developing markets, with several key players looking to move into Latin America and Asia Pacific in the coming years.”
• “Smartwatches will be the most popular consumer electronics connected devices, overtaking more established wearable cameras.”

The white paper, Smart Wireless Devices & the Internet of Me, is available to download from the Juniper website together with details of the full research and the Interactive Forecast Excel (IFxl).