Sports sells — and that’s now also true in the mobile fitness wearables market. The digital fitness wave is still gaining momentum and driving new hardware and software in a range of sports markets. And riding that wave are wrist-worn fitness wearables, which are moving beyond just mobile fitness into sports wearables.
That’s according to UK based tech market research company Futuresource, which has released a new report that looks at the role of wrist-worn fitness wearables in sports, and what’s next in wearable mobile fitness trends. Here we look at some of the report’s top trends in building digital fitness device ecosystems — from engaging users with software to new wearable devices for health and fitness tracking.
Data = Oil, Software = Pipelines, Wearables = Drills
One of the major trends affecting the digital fitness market is how software engages new and existing wearable consumers. Popular mobile fitness apps like Strava, Nike Running Club and MapMyFitness have demonstrated the success of gamification (making apps into game-like experiences) in engaging consumers with sports tracking.
The ability to track and review the metrics from an exercise, see improvement, share progress and compete with others has proven to be a compelling use case that engages consumers with software and hardware, in comparison to exercise data being only stored offline for personal use.
As spending on consumer electronics begins to slow around the world, device makers are seeking new revenue streams through service offerings — and the acquisition of data is a welcome side effect of this. Tracking and recording software highlights the concept that data is the new oil. This concept of “data as oil” and software as pipelines enables new use-cases previously unavailable through traditional sports tracking hardware.
Most consumers may not be interested in wearable devices that can dig deep into detailed sporting metrics. But such new technologies underpin the business models of a virtual coaching tools like Training Peaks or Trainerize, and of course fitness wearables also helps in tech companies’ medical study efforts, such as Apple’s Heart study.
This kind of detailed fitness data also helps in a range of other areas. Strava, for instance, can use its data sets to help urban planners with planning parks, running paths, cycling-friendly areas, and other recreational spaces.
Of course, for software to fulfill its pipeline function, it requires hardware capable of acting as the drill. Wearables can fulfill this role, both within sports but also in all-day health tracking. The tracking functionalities of wrist-worn wearables are expected to be improved due to developments in sensor and battery technology.
As consumers become more health conscious, and the reasons for owning fitness wearables become more compelling. Then, the potential wealth of data could help a variety of industries, from sports and health clubs, to insurance and medical studies. GDPR and ethical use of data will pose a barrier to these industries, meaning that vendors will need to provide a persuasive reason for consumers to part with their data.
Sports wearables = coaches on your wrist
In terms of software, the market is ready to dive into the sports tracking of the future. There remains, however, a bottleneck in terms of the take-up of wearable devices, which have not yet made it into mass market status. In 2018, wearables saw just three percent population penetration, compared to 53% for smartphones.
For consumers to willingly wear a data-mining item that allows for a deep engagement with sporting and health metrics, the wearable must fulfill a consumer function that other personal electronics devices cannot.
Software again comes to the fore here, as it not only acts as a data pipeline from consumer to business, but also enables a service industry that leverages an individual’s health and fitness data to provide insight and coaching.
Some of these insights require a human on the other end of the pipeline to interpret — for instance, a personal trainer or coach who understands heart rate variability and its implication on sporting performance – but other insights, such as hydration, nutrition, or sleep can become automated.
With health and fitness trends driving uptake of devices, fitness and sports wearables may soon become a wrist-worn coach that helps to improve athletic performance and stimulate good health habits.
What next for mobile fitness technology?
Fitness wearables, however, can only do so much. As biomechanical feedback becomes the norm, sports wearables will need to be augmented by an expansive ecosystem of devices and sensors — from anklets or connected trainers that provide running feedback, to muscle bands that track the efficacy of a squat or deadlift, to swimming gloves that assess how well the swimmer is pulling themselves through the water.
Other technological trends are likely to have just as much of an impact on mobile fitness technology as these wrist-worn sports wearables. Sports headphones, for example, accounted for 14% of headphone sales in 2018 and are expected to enjoy significant growth through to 2023.
With ‘hearable’ features becoming more prevalent, any safety concerns around listening to music while cycling or running are removed, while the integration of virtual assistants and voice control will allow for auditory coaching feedback.
Extended Reality (XR) trends will also affect digital fitness technology, with swimming in particular benefitting from line-of-sight live metrics that the wearable cannot provide, or cyclists using head-up displays embedded within their glasses.
As sports and health tracking becomes ever more refined, the wearable will begin to untether itself from the smartphone to become a product worth owning in and of itself. Futuresource expects software to continue to play an essential role within the user ecosystem and, while vendors and manufacturers will seek to vertically integrate their products to create a semi-walled garden, consumer choice will reign.
For more details on mobile fitness and sports wearables trends, you can download Futuresource’s full report “The Role of Wearables in Fitness Ecosystems” here for free (plus your contact info). You can also check out more mobile fitness stories here on MobileVillage.
