i3 - January/February 2021 - 45

By Kyle Wandel

Business

BY T H E N U M B E RS

Making Health A Priority
Note: This article was written before CTA's most recent forecast; see the January 2021 U.S.
Consumer Technology One-Year Industry Forecast for CTA's latest projections.

n the era of COVID-19, products such as smartwatches,
fitness trackers and health monitoring devices are at the
forefront as health issues are now a top priority for many
people. According to CTA's Industry Sector Forecast: Health
and Fitness report, health and fitness industry revenues were
predicted to take a slight dip in 2020 but bounce back in 2021
with shipment revenues expected to grow by 3%. Looking at
the five-year outlook, the health sector is forecast to grow to
$11 billion in revenues by 2024, a 36% increase from 2020.

SDI Productions/Getty Images

Connected Devices

The pandemic has put a strong focus on
monitoring health beyond just tracking
fitness activities. Health monitoring
devices (which encompass app-connected products that, for example,
can track heart rate, blood pressure,
temperature and blood glucose) have
gained awareness out of the heightened
need for people to monitor their temperature and blood oxygen levels.
Connected health monitoring devices
can track patients and their health progress over time, making them an ideal
way to manage long-term illnesses and
chronic conditions.
Connected devices also enable medical
professionals to follow their patient's
progress in real-time, which leads to better care for the individual. Just six million
connected health monitoring devices
shipped in 2019, as this product category
is still young. According to CTA's July
2020 Consumer Technology One Year
Forecast 2016-2019, unit shipments for
connected health monitoring devices rose
75% in 2020 to 10.4 million, with continued double-digit annual growth for the
five-year forecast window.

fitness goals, and often the investment
in a fitness device can encourage positive changes in daily habits leading to
better health. According to CTA, smartwatches are the leading revenue generator in the health and fitness sector now.
Smartwatch revenues are predicted
to reach over $7 billion by the end of
2024, up from $5.5 billion in 2020.
Although they face competition from
smartwatches, fitness trackers will see
annual shipments remaining above 15
million for the extent of CTA's forecast.

I can Hear You

The health tech industry is also poised to
help those with hearing loss this year, as
manufacturers await the Federal Drug
Administration's final word on regulations addressing over-the-counter (OTC)
hearing aids. According to the National
Institute on Deafness and Other
Communication Disorders, 15% of
American adults report some trouble
hearing. OTC hearing aids will offer more
affordable options to millions of
Americans that have difficulties hearing.
At the end of 2020, CTA estimated that
almost 1.9 million OTC hearing aids and
other personal sound amplification products would ship; and over 6.5 million will
ship annually by end of 2024, a 245%
increase from 2020.
The health and fitness sector has a
promising road ahead as manufacturers
develop new applications and fine-tune
software platforms. With the pandemic
bringing health and well-being into focus,
this sector will benefit from growing consumer awareness in the years to come. ■

2021

CES 2021 conference sessions will
cover updates and opportunities in the
digital health arena.

Tracking Fitness Goals

It is difficult to find a fitness enthusiast
that does not own a fitness tracker or a
smartwatch. Even casual exercisers
enjoy tracking their daily steps and
C TA . t e c h / i 3

i3_0121_45_Business_ByTheNumbers.indd 45

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

12/9/20 3:29 PM

https://bit.ly/3npbT1T https://bit.ly/3npbT1T https://www.ces.tech/ https://cta.tech/Resources/i3-Magazine/i3-Issues

i3 - January/February 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of i3 - January/February 2021