Wearable sensors reach their first billion-dollar year, with growth coming in three waves

IDTechEx predict that 2017 will be the first billion dollar year
for wearable sensors. These critical components are central to the core value
proposition in many wearable devices. The “Wearable Sensors 2018-2028:Technologies, Markets & Players”
report includes IDTechEx’s latest research and forecasts on this
topic, collating over 3 years of work to provide a thorough characterisation
and outlook for each type of sensor used in wearable products today.

Despite sales volumes from wearable products continuing to grow,
creeping commoditisation squeezes margins, with hardware sales being
particularly vulnerable. This has led to some consolidation in the industry,
with several prominent failures and exits, and challenging time even amongst
market leaders in each sector. As hardware margins are squeezed, business
models are changing to increasingly focus on the valuable data generated once a
device is worn. Sensors are responsible for the collection and quality of that
data, so understanding the capabilities and limitations of different sensor
platforms is critical to understanding the progress of the industry as a whole.

In the report, IDTechEx address 21 different types of wearable
sensor across 9 different categories as follows: Inertial Measurement Units
(IMUs), optical sensors, electrodes, force/pressure/stretch sensors,
temperature sensors, microphones, GPS, chemical & gas sensors & others.
Hundreds of examples from throughout the report cover a breadth of technology
readiness, ranging from long-established industries to early proof-of-concepts.
The report contains information about the activities of over 115 different
companies, with primary content (including interviews, exhibition or site visits
by the authors) to more than 80 different companies, large and small.

IDTechEx describe wearable sensors in three waves. The first
wave includes sensors that have been incorporated in wearable for many years,
often being originally developed for wearable products decades ago, and
existing as mature industries today. A second wave of wearable sensors came
following huge technology investment in smartphones. Many of the sensors from
smartphones could be easily adapted for use in wearable products; they could
be made-wearable. Finally, as wearable technology hype and
investment peaked, many organisations identified many sensor types that could
be developed specifically with wearable products in mind. These made-for-wearable sensors
often remain in the commercial evaluation or relatively early commercial sales
today, but some examples are already becoming significant success stories.

Wearable sensors in three
waves.

Figure and table extracted
from “Wearable Sensors 2018-2028: Technologies, Markets & Players”

Billions of wearable electronic products are already sold each
year today. Many have already experienced significant hardware commoditisation,
with tough competition driving prices down. Even as wearable devices become
more advanced, introducing more sensors and better components to enhance value
propositions, lessons of history tell us that hardware will always be prone to
commoditisation. As this happens the role of sensors only becomes more
important; with hardware prices being constantly squeezed, increasing
proportions of the value that companies can capture from products will be from
the data that the products can generate.

The key hardware component for capturing this data is the
sensors, so understanding the development and prospects of sensors today is
critical to predicting the potential for this entire industry in the future. “Wearable Sensors 2018-2028:Technologies, Markets & Players” is written to
address the needs of any company or individual looking to gain a clearer,
independent perspective on the outlook for various types of wearable sensor.
The report answers detailed questions about technology, markets and industry
trends, and supported by years of primary research investment collated and
distilled within.

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provide data sought by business leaders, strategists and technology scouts to
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at research@IDTechEx.com or see www.IDTechEx.com.