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The Wearables Marketplace

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The Wearables Marketplace

by Michael Gariffo

Docid: 00021005

Publication Date: 2109

Report Type: MARKET

Preview

As technology becomes ever more integrated into the day-to-day
life of the average individual, the types of devices on hand to aid in
the daily routine have begun to diversify. In recent years, one of the hottest
convenience electronics categories has become wearable devices. Although, in its
broadest sense, this term can refer to any electronic device that is physically
strapped to or worn on the human body, it has generally become synonymous with a
class of gadgets that reside on the wrist of the
wearer. Through the past several years, the market has grown to
focus primarily on two types of wearable devices: the smartwatch and the fitness
tracker. This report will examine the nature and purpose of both of these device
types, what makes each right for a potential buyer, and the leading versions
currently available on the market.

Device Descriptions and History

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Fitness Trackers

Digital pedometers have existed for decades, allowing
owners to keep track of the number of steps taken in a given run or during a
given day. While even the most basic of today’s fitness trackers can easily
handle this task, most devices in this category have massively expanded upon a
classic pedometer’s ability to help someone manage their health routines.
Tiny sensor arrays including accelerometers, gyroscopes, altitude sensors, GPS
sensors, heart
rate sensors, body fat sensors, blood oxygen detectors, and more can track everything from a person’s daily calories burned
and their time spent sitting, to how restful their previous night of sleep was,
or how their weight loss is going. The
goal of these newly expanded capabilities is to provide users with a much more
holistic picture of their overall health.

To aid in this goal over the long term, the vast majority of fitness trackers
are designed to work in concert with a companion app. Whether installed on the
user’s smartphone, available via the Web, or running on a PC, these apps collect
and analyze the data provided by the fitness tracker to provide users with
tangible ways to monitor their progress in meeting daily fitness goals.
Whether that goal is as simple as taking a walk and getting a good night’s
sleep, or as grueling as training for a marathon, the presence of a fitness tracker
on a user can greatly aid in staying motivated and reducing wasted effort.

As stated previously, most modern fitness trackers come in the form of a
wrist-worn device. Although many are also usable as a watch (with some even
being classifiable as a smartwatch), others focus on providing users with simplified
readouts of their progress towards a daily activity goal while bypassing more
complex, battery draining displays.

Smartwatches

While fitness trackers help their users stay connected with their own bodies,
smartwatches aid them in staying connected with friends, family, and the
digital world. Although still considered by some to be a niche product category (at least when
compared to something like their companion smartphones), the smartwatch market has boomed over recent years, as smartphones have become
larger and the desire for instant access to the information has grown. Where a
smartphone user four or five years ago would have been required to remove their
device from their pocket or bag to see who was calling them or read that text
message that just came in, smartwatch owners can do the same thing by simply
glancing at their wrist. In addition to this, more advanced devices can provide
additional functionality such as serving as an external speakerphone, providing
access to the personal digital assistant of their companion smartphone platform,
or allowing users to quickly respond to incoming message with voice or
pre-written replies.

Many have scoffed at the seemingly minor convenience smartwatches provide,
saying it is not worth the need to carry and charge an extra device every day.
However, the growth of the market shows that there is very much a desire
for that extra ease of use among smartphone owners, and that more and more
individuals are beginning to believe that the benefits of a smartwatch outweigh
the drawbacks.

Crossover Devices

In nearly all cases, a given wearable device will be marketed as either a
fitness tracker or as a smartwatch. However, as both sides of the market have
began developing and producing more advanced products, units have become
available that blur these lines somewhat. These hybrid devices have originated
from both sides of the coin, with companies that traditionally focused on
fitness trackers producing units that can also display incoming messages, and
smartwatch makers building devices with built-in heart rate monitors. As with
many products that are hybrids of two categories, most of these offerings are
not as fully-featured as a single-purpose option. This does not mean that they
are not the right fit for some people, simply that they may not offer all of the
same functionality that could be had from two independent wearables.

Current Models

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This section will examine the current leading models from each aforementioned
product category, with details provided on the capabilities of each device, the
platform it is running, and other factors such as battery life and available
accessories. Although the wearables market is young, its growth has already
outstripped any possibility of covering all of the currently available
smartwatches and fitness trackers. For the sake of this report’s ability to
serve as a guide to potential buyers, the most popular and widely available
units will be the primary focus of the coverage provided here.

Fitness Trackers

Garmin Fenix 6

Figure 1. The Garmin Fenix 6

Source: Garmin

Connectivity Options – Bluetooth 4.0,
GPS, Wi-Fi
- The Fenix 6 can interact iOS and Android, as well as desktop
  operating systems via Garmin’s Connect IQ platform.
Battery Life – Up to 14 days in passive mode or as
little as 72 hours when all sensors are active.
Pricing – $549.99+
Activities Tracked – Steps, sleep, exercise, and
various sports, boating, weight training, running, golfing, biking,
skiing, rowing, and more.
Summary – Garmin has gone from being best known for
its in-car GPS units to being one of the top wearables makers on the
market, especially among those that do not also make smartphone
platforms. Fenix line is the
company’s most well-known smartwatch, and one of the most popular high-end models
on the market. This is likely due to the balance it strikes between
providing a full-featured smartwatch experience while also providing a
usage time that can be measured in weeks under normal daily use. The latest
edition of the Fenix 6 greatly expands on the latter of these
highlights, doubling its predecessor’s one-week battery life to 14 days
without sacrificing any of the Fenix 5’s functionality. Garmin’s
high-end offerings are increasingly becoming the go-to option for users
wishing for a platform-agnostic smartwatch that works equally well with
iOS and Android-based smartphones. In addition to the flagship Fenix
line, Garmin also offers a variety of more fashion-focused lines,
including the recently released Venu and the updated Vivoactive.

FitBit Versa 3

Figure 2. FitBit Versa 3

Source: FitBit

Connectivity Options –

Bluetooth 5.0, GPS
- The FitBit Versa 3 can interact with FitBit’s own companion mobile
  apps for Android and iOS, as well as with more than 200 third-party fitness apps
  including LoseIt!, MyFitnessMap, MyFitnessPal, RunKeeper, Spark
  People,
  and others.
Battery Life – 6+ days. Charges via included, proprietary
charging cable.
Pricing – $229.95
Activities Tracked –

Movement, sleep patterns, heart rate, and various exercises, including swimming,
running, biking and more.
Summary – The Versa 3 is Fitbit’s fourth crack at
making a fitness tracker that could also legitimately be called a smartwatch. It greatly expands upon its
direct predecessors, as well as the Fitbit Blaze
and Ionic, by
adding enhanced sensors, better waterproofing, a wider range of new music
playback options, and access to both Amazon’s Alexa personal digital
assistant and the Google Assistant. The
Versa 3 also benefits greatly from the support of the Fitbit app and
partner ecosystem, which is one of the largest collections of fitness
and wellness apps currently on the market. The Versa 3 also adds some
new features designed to help users keep it on their wrist nearly 24
hours a day, including fast charging and sleep tracking. It also
provides features specifically for FitBit's core female market, such as
Menstrual Health Tracking and personalized fitness goals and daily
motivations.

FitBit Charge 5

Figure 3. FitBit Charge 5

Source: FitBit

Connectivity Options – Bluetooth LE,
GPS, NFC
- The FitBit Charge 5 can interact with FitBit’s own companion mobile
  apps for Android and iOS, as well as with a variety of third-party fitness apps
  including LoseIt!, MyFitnessMap, MyFitnessPal, RunKeeper, Spark
  People,
  and others.
Battery Life – Up to 7 days, 6 hours of continuous
GPS use.
Pricing – $179.95+
Activities Tracked – Movement and exercise, including
automatic tracking of running, swimming, and various other sports, as
well as sleep, ECG and blood oxygen saturation tracking.
Summary – The FitBit Charge 5 is the latest iteration
of FitBit’s original line of trackers. Its design mirrors the same slim,
light form factor that has made FitBit one of the most successful
companies in this space. As with previous entries in the series, the
Charge 5 once again
continues to blur the lines between smartwatch and fitness tracker by
adding expanded support for features such as one-tap mobile payments,
customizable apps, granular control of smartphone notifications, and
more. The latest edition adds support for improved heart health
tracking, with ECG and bloody oxygen measurements now joining the
available tracked metrics. This, combined with the
ability for the Charge 5 to automatically recognize and log a variety of
sports and exercises puts it in direct competition with models that cost
considerably more than the $180-ish price tag.

Smartwatches

Figure 4. Fossil Gen 6

Source:
Misfit

Operating System –

Wear OS
Compatible Platforms – Android, iOS
Battery Life and Charging – 24 hours, with an optional "multi-day
extended mode" that limits the watch's functionality considerably while active.
Charges via included charging pad.
Changeable Bands – Yes
Price – $299.99+
Summary – The Fossil Gen line has been one of the
most popular Android Wear (more recently redubbed Wear OS) watch series
available for the platform. The units have generally combined fairly traditional
watch aesthetics with feature sets that put them at or near the top of their
contemporary generation. The Gen 6 represents a particular milestone in the
history of Fossil's offerings as well as the Wear OS platform as a whole.
Shortly before the Gen 6 was revealed, Google and Samsung joined forces to
combine features from Google's Wear OS and Samsung's Tizen platform into a
single offering. The Fossil Gen 6 is one of the first third-party offerings to
launch with this new version of the wearable platform pre-installed. This gives
it full access to the revamped Google Play store, which allows watches running
Wear OS to download either companion apps for software already installed on
their connected smartphones, or install apps independently. Other updates for
the Gen 6 include a speedier Snapdragon 4100+ CPU, an upgrade to Bluetooth 5.0,
and more rapid charging. Fitness enthusiasts will also appreciate the addition
of blood oxygen tracking and enhanced sleep and rest trackers.

Samsung Galaxy Watch4

Figure 5. Samsung Galaxy Watch4

Source: Samsung

Operating System –

Wear OS
Compatible Platforms – Android
Battery Life and Charging – 40 hours, depending on usage.
Charges with included USB charging dock, or via "Wireless PowerShare" by
placing it on a compatible Galaxy smartphone.
Changeable Bands – Yes
Price – $249.99+
Summary – The Galaxy Watch4 is the latest fitness-focused
smartwatch in Samsung's flagship line. Due to the company's increasingly
disjointed naming conventions, the device succeeds the Galaxy Watch Active 2
(there was no Watch Active 3). The unit mirrors its predecessor's reliance on a
virtual bezel, allowing the user to roll their finger around the edge of the
display to advance or control the onscreen features, much as the Galaxy Watch4
Classic, seen below, does with its physical bezel. Both this and the Watch4
Classic now include body fat measurement and ECG tracking, which are accessed by
placing one finger on each of the device's two buttons and waiting for a
measurement to be taken. The additional fitness and heart health trackign will
likely appeal to health enthusiasts, while the increased power (thanks to its
upgraded Exynos W920 core) and addition of the collaborative Wear OS platform
will appeal to user's prioritizing connectivity and app selections.

Samsung Galaxy Watch4 Classic

Figure 6. Samsung Galaxy4 Classic

Source: Samsung

Operating System –

Wear OS
Compatible Platforms – Android
Battery Life and Charging – 40 hours, depending on usage.
Charges with included USB charging dock, or via "Wireless PowerShare" by
placing it on a compatible Galaxy smartphone.
Changeable Bands – Yes
Price – $449.99+
Summary – The Galaxy Watch4 Classic is the Watch4's more
formal sibling. The unit includes the aforementioned physical rotating bezel,
which provides a more tactile way to scroll through onscreen options, change
volume levels, and perform other actions. Internally, it is the twin of its
cheaper contemporary seen above. This means it includes the same CPU, memory,
battery life, and display technology. The $100 upcharge is essentially paying
for the slightly large size, depending on the respective options chosen, and the
rotating bezel. It's worth noting that both the Watch4 and Watch4 Classic have
dropped iOS support, and limit some of their most complex features specifically
to situations in which they are connected to Samsung-branded smartphones. This
shows an intention for Samsung to coalesce its mobile and wearable ecosystems
together for a more closed-in experience. While this has obviously worked well
for Apple with its iPhone and Apple Watch limitations, it remains to be seen
whether this will hurt or help the final sales totals for the Watch4 generation.

Apple Watch Series 7

Figure 7. Apple Watch Series 7 in Two Band Options

Source: Apple

Operating System – Apple Watch OS
Compatible Platforms – iOS (requires iPhone 6s or later
with iOS 14 or later)
Battery Life and Charging – One to two days. Charges wirelessly with included
USB charging cable.
Changeable Bands – Yes (with proprietary connector)
Price – $399.99+
Summary – Like all of its predecessors, the Apple Watch
Series 7
is almost completely visually indistinguishable from its predecessors, aside
from a few minor physical differences and new case color options. However, aside from the typical bump in
CPU speed and some minor internal modifications, the device’s defining upgrade
from the Series 6 is a slightly larger display, with the actual screen very
nearly touching the surrounding metal bezels now and offering 20 percent more
screen real estate. Other features include brighter always-on display options, a
new swipe-friendly on-screen keyboard, tougher front glass, and faster charging.
At the time the unit was revealed, some were disappointed at the sixth straight
iteration of the Apple Watch looking almost identical to all of its predecessor,
especially given the fact that multiple leaks had claimed a major visual refresh
was on the way. Only time will tell if Apple's extremely iterative approach to
upgrades finally has a negative impact on its wearable sales, or if it will
continue to lead the pack.

Apple Watch SE

Figure 8. Apple Watch SE

Source: Apple

Operating System – Apple Watch OS
Compatible Platforms – iOS (requires iPhone 6s or later
with iOS 14 or later)
Battery Life and Charging – One to two days. Charges wirelessly with included
USB charging cable.
Changeable Bands – Yes (with proprietary connector)
Price – $279+
Summary – For the first time in the history of the line,
Apple launched two units at one time: the standard Apple Watch Series 6 update,
and the completely new Apple Watch SE line. The new model adopted the SE moniker
from the iPhone line, replicating its offering of a cheaper, but still very
capable alternative to the company's flagship offering. In the case of the Apple
Watch SE, customers choosing the cheaper options would lose access to some newer
faces, the recently-introduced blood oxygen and ECG tracking options, and not
much else. This level of capability makes the unit's $100+ price drop, when
compared to the Series 6, an attractive offer for many that don't need the most
advanced fitness and health tracking features. Apple continues to sell the SE
now that its Apple Watch Series 7 has replaced the Series 6 as its top-end
flagship, continuing to provide users with a cheaper option that bears almost no
physical difference in appearance from its more expensive sibling.

Summary

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At the end of the day, fitness trackers and smartwatches may not
be for everyone. Many people simply do not see the extra conveniences and
measurements they can provide as worth the hassle of having to keep another
device charged and with them at all times. However, the growing market bears a
striking resemblance to the early days of the smartphone race. Once upon a time,
many consumers grumbled that they didn’t need to spend extra cash on a
smartphone, and wondered why they should pay for a mobile data plan when they
had a completely usable Internet connection at home that they were already
paying for. Yet, despite these early misgivings, smartphones now account for the
majority of new phone sales in nearly every country in the world.

This does not mean that every smartphone owner is necessarily
going to find themselves in sudden need of a fitness tracker or smartwatch. Nor
does it even guarantee that wearables will always come in the form of companion devices to
smartphones, but it does mean that the potential for a
much larger, more voracious scale of wearables market is there. In fact, the
resemblance to the early smartphone market goes even further. Technology
manufacturers that had long-since entered a category now find themselves
competing directly with Apple’s late-comer entry that is still a dominant force
in the marketplace, despite its relative youth. Much like the release of the original iPhone, the Apple Watch debut has
stabilized a whole new
class of device that many consumers were dubious about their need for. While wearables are still, by no means, the type of must-have product that smartphones
have become, their continued perseverance and ongoing support by some of the
largest companies in the industry show they are here for the duration.

Web Links

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About the Author

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Michael Gariffo is an editor for Faulkner Information Services. He
tracks and writes about enterprise software and the IT services sector, as well
as telecommunications and data networking.

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