Connected Wearables

The wearable form factor enables hands-free operation and allows
the user to multitask and get immediate access to information. It
also enables continuous recording of useful data such as body
metrics, location and environmental data. Berg Insight’s definition
of a connected wearable is a device meant to be worn by the user
and which incorporates data logging and some sort of wireless
connectivity. Connected wearables are already being widely used
in professional markets. The exploding smartphone adoption, cloud
services, miniaturised hardware, sensor technology and low power
wireless connectivity have enabled connected wearables to emerge
as a new promising consumer segment as well. The number of
applications for wearable technology is vast and includes imaging,
augmented reality, media playback, navigation, data displaying,
authentication, gesture control, monitoring and communication. A
plethora of device categories such as smartwatches, fitness & activity
trackers, smart glasses, people monitoring devices, medical devices
and wearable computers target various market segments including
infotainment & lifestyle, fitness & wellness, people monitoring & safety,
medical & healthcare, enterprise & industrial and government &
military.
The market for connected wearables has entered a strong growth
phase that will last for many years to come. Berg Insight estimates
that shipments of connected wearables reached 19.0 million units in
2014. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 54.7 percent to
reach shipments of 168.2 million by 2019. Fitness & activity trackers
is the largest product category and accounts for a majority of today’s
shipments. Decreasing prices and new form factors will enable fitness
& activity trackers to reach shipments of 42.0 million units in 2019.
The smartwatch category has also started to reach significant volumes
and is predicted to become the largest device category reaching
shipments of 90.0 million devices in 2019, up from 5.0 million units
in 2014. Limited availability, high prices and privacy concerns have
so far resulted in that sales of smart glasses have been modest.
Promising use cases in professional markets as well as in niche
consumer segments will enable smart glasses to become the third
largest category of connected wearables and reach shipments of
11.0 million devices in 2019, up from only 0.03 million units in 2014.
Connected wearables such as cardiac rhythm management devices,
ECG monitors and mobile Personal Emergency Response Systems
(mPERS) are already common in the medical & healthcare and people
monitoring & safety segments. Annual shipments of medical devices
and people monitoring & safety devices are forecasted to grow to 7.1
million and 3.1 million at the end of the forecast period respectively.
New product innovation is also anticipated in the next coming years
that will result in successful products not known today and annual
shipments of these are predicted to grow at a CAGR of 184.8 percent
from 0.08 million units in 2014 to reach 15.0 million units in 2019.
Bluetooth will remain the primary connectivity option in consumer
centric wearables throughout the forecast period and smartphones will
act as the principal hub for remote connectivity. The number of active
cellular network connections from wearables is projected to grow
from 0.5 million in 2014 to reach 26.9 million connections in 2019. The
growth is driven by increasing adoption of cellular in the smartwatch
category and the high adoption in the people monitoring & safety
segment in which cellular connectivity already is the main technology
for many types of devices. The most common connectivity option for
wearable medical devices will be low power NFC technologies and
Bluetooth which enable remote connectivity via medical monitoring
system hubs. BYOD will have an increasing impact on the connected
medical device category, especially for patient-driven models of
connected care.
Numerous merger & acquisition activities have taken place among
wearables players in the past years. In August 2012, Google
acquired the smartwatch vendor WIMM Labs. In April 2013, Jawbone
acquired the wireless health tracking device vendor BodyMedia. In
November 2013, the sports apparel vendor Under Armour acquired
MapMyFitness. Intel acquired the wearable device vendor Basis
Science in March 2014. Three notable transactions concerning
connected wearables took place in the medical & healthcare segment
during 2014. The major medical device vendor Covidien acquired the
wearable medical device specialist Zephyr Technologies. Medtronic
acquired Corventis which has developed a wireless ECG monitoring
patch. Furthermore, the major medical technology specialist St. Jude
Medical acquired CardioMEMS which has developed an implantable
and wireless heart monitoring system.

1.1 Introduction
1.1.1 Background
1.1.2 Definitions
1.2 Market segments
1.2.1 Infotainment & lifestyle
1.2.2 Fitness & wellness
1.2.3 People monitoring & safety
1.2.4 Medical & healthcare
1.2.5 Enterprise & industrial
1.2.6 Government & military
1.3 Technologies and platforms
1.3.1 Mobile operating systems and platforms
1.3.2 Battery and processor technologies
1.3.3 Wireless technologies
1.3.4 Sensors
1.3.5 Display technologies and user interface
2 Value chain and vendor landscape
2.1 Enabling technologies
2.1.1 Hardware component vendors
2.1.2 Mobile operating system vendors
2.2 Devices
2.2.1 Smartphone and consumer electronics
manufacturers
2.2.2 Apparel and accessories companies
2.2.3 Specialist vendors
2.3 Connectivity services and IoT platforms
2.3.1 Wireless operators and managed service
providers
2.3.2 IoT platform providers
2.4 Apps and content
2.4.1 Software application developers and content
providers
3 Smartwatches
3.1 The smartwatch market
3.1.1 Market size and major vendors
3.1.2 Established smartphone vendors and watch
brands enter the market
3.2 Smartwatches and wireless connectivity
3.2.1 Bluetooth is the most common connectivity
option today
3.2.2 Cellular connectivity introduced in a handful
smartwatches
3.3 Company profiles and strategies
3.3.1 Samsung: Multi-platform and multi-device
strategy
3.3.2 Pebble: From crowdfunding to mass market
success
3.3.3 Sony: Smartwatch veteran gets new life from
Android Wear
3.3.4 Apple: Enough scale to bet on its own platform
3.3.5 Shanghai Nutshell Electronic: Focus on China
4 Smart glasses
4.1 The smart glasses market
4.1.1 Limited availability and experiments with
features and target markets
4.1.2 Imaging glasses, 3D viewing glasses and
wearable VR/AR solutions
4.1.3 Growth opportunities in the professional market
segments
4.2 Smart glasses and wireless connectivity
4.3 Company profiles and strategies
4.3.1 Recon Instruments: Focus on sports and an
active lifestyle
4.3.2 Vuzix: Wearable display specialist turns to the
enterprise segment
4.3.3 Epson: Aims at both professional and
consumer segments
4.3.4 Google: Glass Explorer Program showcases a
plethora of use cases
4.3.5 Kopin: Provides technology solutions to the
smart glasses market
5 Connected fitness and activity
trackers
5.1 The connected fitness and activity
tracking market
5.1.1 Market size and major vendors
5.1.2 Fitness and activity tracking bands
5.1.3 Bluetooth connected sports watches
5.1.4 Other form factors
5.2 Fitness and activity trackers and
wireless connectivity
5.3 Company profiles and strategies
5.3.1 Jawbone: Wearable pioneer now offers a family
of activity trackers
5.3.2 Fitbit: Activity tracker market leader returns with
new products
5.3.3 Microsoft: Enters the market with activity band
and cross platform service
5.3.4 Garmin: GPS sports watch giant introduces
connected features
5.3.5 OMsignal: Clothing with embedded sensors
6 People monitoring and safety
devices
6.1 Family locator and consumer oriented
locator devices
6.1.1 Child locator devices
6.1.2 Wearable locator devices for adults
6.2 Lone worker protection and offender
monitoring devices
6.2.1 Lone worker protection devices
6.2.2 Offender monitoring devices
6.3 Next-generation telecare and mPERS
6.3.1 Mobile telecare and mPERS devices
6.3.2 Telecare activity monitoring solutions
6.4 Company profiles and strategies
6.4.1 Filip Technologies: Developer of the Filip child
locator wristwatch
6.4.2 hereO: Start-up set to launch the hereO family
locator watch and app
6.4.3 Everon: Developer of GPS wristwatches for
telecare and lone workers
6.4.4 Numerex: Enters people monitoring markets
through acquisition of Omnilink
6.4.5 Limmex: Swiss telecare watch vendor ramping
up sales globally
6.4.6 LOSTnFOUND: Swiss asset tracking vendor
entering the telecare market
7 Medical devices and
miscellaneous
7.1 Medical devices
7.1.1 The mHealth and home monitoring market
7.1.2 Regulatory environment
7.1.3 Wearable medical devices and implants
7.2 Additional connected wearable devices
7.2.1 Wearable industrial computers
7.2.2 Military devices
7.2.3 Authentication and gesture control devices
7.2.4 Other wearable devices
7.3 Company profiles and strategies
7.3.1 Medtronic: Connected wearables for ECG
monitoring and CRM patients
7.3.2 Dexcom: Connected continuous glucose
monitoring
7.3.3 Zephyr Technology: Betting on connected
wearables
7.3.4 Withings: Connected health and wellness
aimed at the consumer market
7.3.5 Motorola Solutions: Wearable computers for
the enterprise market
8 Market forecasts and trends
8.1 Global market outlook
8.1.1 Market segments
8.1.2 Regional market data
8.1.3 Cellular connections
8.2 Market forecasts – smartwatches
8.2.1 On the verge to reach mass market adoption
8.2.2 Connectivity strategies
8.3 Market forecasts – smart glasses
8.3.1 Opportunities in the professional and niche
consumer segments
8.3.2 Connectivity strategies
8.4 Market forecasts – fitness and activity
trackers
8.4.1 Wrist worn activity trackers will face fierce
competition from smartwatches
8.4.2 High growth in other form factors
8.5 Market forecasts – people monitoring
and safety devices
8.5.1 Wearables will be the most common form
factor in family locators
8.5.2 Great potential in next-generation telecare and
mPERS
8.5.3 Modest growth in offender monitoring and lone
worker devices
8.6 Market forecasts – medical devices
8.6.1 Cardiac Rhythm Management is the largest
connected device category
8.6.2 Connectivity strategies
8.7 Market forecasts – other connected
wearables
8.8 Market trends and drivers
8.8.1 Wearables are at the intersection of fashion and
technology
8.8.2 The myriad of use cases is wearables’ killer app
8.8.3 Long-term engagement: bringing it all together
8.8.4 Wearables raise privacy and security concerns
8.8.5 New M&A activities anticipated to take place in the wearables industry
Glossary