BUYERS' GUIDE eHEALTH & iSPORT HEALTH & ACTIVITY MONITORS MARKET While the demand for smartwatches is growing among consumers across several industries, purchasing within health & fitness remains one of the main drivers for this trend in the overall marketplace. SMARTWATCHES This segment shows the most dynamic development as technology and electronics companies, along with sports, fashion and watch provides, offer a wide range of products in this category, which is leading to increased competition. In the first six months of 2016, the demand in Europe grew by 153% and in Asia by 115%. HEALTH & FITNESS TRACKERS In comparison to the other categories, health & fitness trackers represent the segment with the largest volume in the market. Compared to smartwatches, the volume growth of health & fitness trackers in Europe is significantly lower (by 63%). In Asia, however, unit sales are still growing strongly (141%). WRIST SPORTS COMPUTERS Due to lower price levels, this traditional sports segment is seeing stiffer competition for health & fitness trackers. The main competitors at a higher price level are multifunctional smartwatches. In Europe, this segment growth is a relatively low 20%. STATE OF PLAY Whether if it’s for health reasons or just to monitor our activity, smartwatches, smart braces and even smart buttons, in-ear headphones or jewellery are becoming THE tech products everybody wants. While early models or wearables were quite basic, today, extra specific functionalities are becoming increasingly important as differentiators. A huge variety of devices are on show this year at IFA, and for retail, the sector is particularly interesting, creating new value and excitement for end consumers. INNOVATIONS TO LOOK FOR AT IFA SPORTS MONITORS By combining smart devices with clever apps, training sessions can be optimised and new routes plotted and followed to the letter. By measuring the intensity of exercise and pulse rate, the latest devices can also “guess” what kind of exercise the user is doing, and also automatically “guess” when he or she is sleeping or resting. HEART RATE MONITORING Initially, heart rate monitoring required users to strap the monitor around their chests, or to place ones finger on an infrared ray. Today however, devices are able to monitor heart rate via wristband, earbud, or even under one’s bed. The key differentiator is the accuracy with which heart rate is monitored, and whether irregularity can be detected. SLEEP MONITORING Our thanks to DRAGAN PETRIC - Mobile Devices Expert Group Manager at EISA and Executive Editor at Bug magazine – for his input. INNOVATING @ IFA The advent of sleep monitoring is not new. Most smart watches or sports wristbands include sleep monitoring as a standard feature, but we are also seeing the emergence of new shapes and forms of devices specifically adapted to sleep monitoring. The advantage of having a specific device in this case is that it can provide extremely detailed information not only on sleep patterns (including wake-up alarms that avoid interrupting REM or deep sleep), but also on heart rate and regularity, breathing rate and regularity and restlessness while sleeping. FITBIT BLAZE With advanced technology in a versatile design, Fitbit Blaze tracks workouts, monitors performance stats and gauges user progress. PurePulse continuous heart rate and multi-sport modes enhance every exercise while Connected GPS and FitStar workouts take fitness to the next level. Interchangeable band and frames and customisable clock faces enable personalisation. Fitbit syncs to computers and smartphones. » HALL 7.2 C / STAND 120 CONTACT Dr. Jan Wassmann Senior Consultant Telecom Global GfK Retail and Technology Jan.wassmann@gfk.com THE FUTURE After successfully intruding phone market, Chinese brands will attach wearables part of consumer electronics industry. We can expect a huge invasion of health and activity monitors from China following the same formula as phones: better performance for a lower price. FITNESS MONITORING VIA TRUE WIRELESS SPORTS BUDS The Jabra Elite Sport state-of-the-art true wireless earbuds not only deliver superior audio quality for calls and music without wires, they also deliver the most comprehensive range of audio training tools to ensure the user has the perfect training companion with him or her, whatever their fitness level or work-out regime preference. This includes an advanced personalised fitness analysis thanks to an inear heart rate monitor and an integrated app that offers automatic fitness testing, race-time predictor and recovery advisor. » HALL 7.2 B / STAND 201 » HALL 7.2 C / STAND 120 68
