Wearables: remote work and health monitoring drive the growth

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Worldwide end-user spending on wearable devices will total $81.5 billion in 2021, an 18.1% increase from $69 billion in 2020, according to the latest forecast from Gartner. The rise in remote work and the increased interest in health monitoring during the Covid-19 pandemic were a significant factor driving market growth. “The introduction of health measures to self-track Covid-19 symptoms, along with increasing interest from consumers in their personal health and wellness during global lockdowns, presented a significant opportunity for the wearables market – said Ranjit Atwal, senior research director at Gartner -. Ear-worn devices and smartwatches are seeing particularly robust growth as consumers rely on these devices for remote work, fitness activities, health tracking and more”. Spending on ear-worn devices rose 124% in 2020, totaling $32.7 billion and is forecast to reach $39.2 billion in 2021. This massive growth can be largely attributed to remote workers upgrading their headphones for video calling and consumers purchasing headphones to use with their smartphone devices. Smartwatch end-user spending increased 17.6% to reach $21.8 billion in 2020. Smartwatch growth, which was driven in part by new users entering the market, will continue through 2021 as new processor technologies and improvements to solid-state batteries increase battery life and shorten charging times. Smart patches have been added as a new category in the latest Gartner forecast for wearable electronic devices as they are projected to see significant growth in 2021. “Smart patches – Gartner explains – are non-invasive health-monitoring sensors which stick to the skin surface and are used to measure temperature, heart rate, blood sugar and other vital statistics more effectively than other wearable technologies. They can also remotely administer medication, such as insulin for diabetic patients”.