Wearables are continuing to grow in popularity across industries. The last quarter of 2019 saw 82.3 percent growth in the worldwide wearable market, according to the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker report, and 118.9 million devices were shipped during Q4. Throughout 2019, 336.5 million wearable devices were shipped globally, which was an 89 percent increase from those shipped in 2018.
"Hearables" or earwear devices took up 55.3 percent of the market, with wristbands and watches next in popularity.
Many companies are getting in on this fast-changing and growing market. Here are the top brands to be aware of that are leading the wearables charge.
The leader in the wearable market is Apple. IDC research shows that the brand sold more than 43.4 million units just in the last quarter of 2019. Top wearables from Apple are AirPods, AirPods Pro, and Beats in the earwear category, and the Apple Watch remains a leader in smartwatches.
Xiaomi is another wearable leader. The brand created the Mi Band, a fitness and sleep tracker, alarm, and Bluetooth device. It is one of the most popular wearable activity trackers around the world because of its sleek appearance and functionality.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active is a favorite with consumers, with an impressively long battery life and unique look. The watch provides many health and fitness tracking features that can be bundled with the company’s popular smartphone devices.
In 2019, Huawei’s shipments of wearables grew 63.4 percent. Popular devices from this brand are primarily smart wristbands, but watches and hearables also help the brand stay near the top of the international market. The brand continues to thrive around the world, despite its relative scarcity in the U.S. after the government discouraged American companies from buying Huawei’s equipment over security concerns, and banned them from commercial trade with the Chinese telecom and electronics giant.
Fitbit is in the IDC report’s top five wearable brands. The brand’s well-known fitness trackers lead their sales, but they've also introduced smartwatches, including Versa 2, Versa Lite, and Ionic. The Fitbit Charge 4 tracker includes built-in GPS, and the battery can last up to a week.
Making a significant impact in the healthcare realm is Withings, with its product Move ECG. The device is the first-ever watch with a built-in electrocardiogram (ECG) function. Patients with atrial fibrillation or other heart issues can better track their cardio rhythms and patterns. Move ECG was developed with the help of cardiologists.
Another brand leading the healthcare wearables market is Omron Healthcare. Their HeartGuide product is the first wearable blood pressure monitor. Patients can learn how their activities impact their heart rate or blood pressure throughout the day, and sleep patterns are also tracked and recorded.
Philips developed a wireless biosensor device that can be adhered to a patient’s chest to collect vital signs. The wearable biosensor isn’t hooked up to any machines, so it doesn’t inhibit patients from moving around. The company continues to be at the forefront of medical wearable devices.
These organizations and their products are leading the way in wearables. And as the market continues to grow, more brands will introduce new devices that accommodate our evolving need for connected wireless devices that comprise the Internet of Things (IoT).
The wireless network for your large organization may struggle to support all of the IoT devices that enter and exit the network boundaries each day. Smartwatches, wrist trackers, hearables, and patient monitoring devices will only increase in popularity and volume. Modern consumers want to stay connected, and businesses are leveraging the technology in new ways.
Your network needs continuous monitoring to know what kind of devices are using the Wi-Fi, how they’re experiencing service in real-time, and what impact they have on performance. With the Wireless Network Monitoring platform from 7SIGNAL, your network management team can see and solve an issue before any end-users notice a problem.
The Mobile Eye from 7SIGNAL keeps IoT devices connected. The sensor runs continuous tests so engineers can make sure Wi-Fi is fast and high quality at all times. And it can help you solve problems like roaming, congestion, and coverage issues, helping you meet the challenge of a range of new devices.
7SIGNAL® is a leader in enterprise Wireless Network Monitoring. The 7SIGNAL platform is a cloud-based Wireless Network Monitoring (WNM) solution that continuously troubleshoots the wireless network for performance issues – maximizing network uptime, device connectivity, and network ROI. The platform was designed for the world’s most innovative organizations, educational institutions, hospitals, and government agencies and is currently deployed at Booz Allen Hamilton, IBM, Kaiser Permanente, Walgreens, Microsoft, and many others. 7SIGNAL continuously monitors the connectivity of over 4 million global devices. Learn more at www.7signal.com.