One of the key factors responsible for the surge in the demand for wearable fitness trackers is the rising adoption of smartphone-based fitness tracking apps across the world. These apps, owing to their ability to provide a wide array of useful features, functions, and designs that help the consumers in their fitness journey, are witnessing a ballooning demand. Furthermore, the support granted to these apps by all the major smartphone operating systems, such as Android, Apple, and Blackberry, is resulting in their easier accessibility, thereby leading to their high utilization.
The global wearable fitness trackers market is expected to register massive growth during the forecast period (2018–2023), with a CAGR of 16.5%. The mushrooming sales of wearable fitness trackers, as a result of their escalating global demand, are expected to result in $48.2 billion revenue by 2023. In simple terms, a fitness or activity tracker monitors how well people are working on their fitness, by measuring the distance traveled, calories burnt, and also the heart rate. Many of the modern-day activity trackers are synced to a smartphone, which is why the increasing downloads of fitness apps is significant.
Several variants of wearable fitness trackers are now available for purchase: smart garments and body sensors, leg-wear, and wrist-wear. Amongst these, smart garments and body sensors, on account of the rising collaboration of fitness, fashion, and high-tech companies, are expected to record the fastest growth in demand in the near future. Wearable fitness trackers are sold in the market through direct and indirect distribution channels. Owing to the skyrocketing number of online stores and the rising popularity of the online shopping concept, indirect distribution channels recorded higher sales in 2017.
An increasing number of product launches and cross compatibility and integration of personal assistance and personal health apps are being observed in the wearable fitness trackers market. The prominent companies manufacturing such devices are frequently launching new and innovative products, primarily to achieve their aim of expanding their global presence and product portfolio. For instance, Garmin International Inc., owned by Garmin Ltd., launched the Approach X10, a golf band variant of its wearable devices, in January 2018, which is compatible with the company’s golf app.
Geographically, North America was the region which recorded the largest sale of such devices during 2013–2017. This was a result of the presence of prominent consumer electronics companies, such as Fitbit Inc., Apple Inc., and Fossil Group Inc., high frequency of chronic diseases, growing adoption of fitness trackers for health monitoring, and rising healthcare expenditure in the region. In the coming years, people in Asia-Pacific (APAC) are expected to purchase these devices at the highest rate, as the internet penetration is rapidly rising here.
