One of the recurring themes here at Health Tech Insider is that consumer purchases will give way to large-scale enterprise purchases in the wearable technology industry. Already, we are seeing deals resulting in sales of 10,000 units or more fitness bands at a time. A new forecast from Tractica supports our analysis of the situation.
The report “Connected Wearable Patches” focuses on wearable patches, electronic “tattoos, and other small devices that are adhered to a subject’s skin. Using wireless communications technology, these can be used for a range of health and medical applications including monitoring a patient’s vital signs to dispensing medication. Tractica’s analysts predict that the variety of patches is going to increase rapidly, addressing a wide range of situations. In 2017, the estimated shipments worldwide is expected to fall just short of 1 million units. In just five years, this is expected to grow to 35.1 million units worth nearly $8 billion in revenue. And the vast bulk of these will be for clinical devices used by healthcare professionals; four out of five units shipped will be clinical devices.
“The market for connected wearable patches is still in the initial stages of development and commercial availability, but holds great promise, with the potential to improve the health of patients and contribute to lower healthcare costs,” says research analyst Sherril Hanson. This too underscores our prediction of better outcomes that will save lives while saving money through wearable technology.
