The Cutthroat Wearables Battle Is About More Than Tracking Your Fitness
The year is 2035.You, like most people you know, have a small, button-sized device implanted in your forearm.
For a recurring fee, it continuously monitors your blood pressure, core temperature, cardiovascular activity and all other health measures a physician would value.Anything suspicious is promptly flagged to your doctor by a personalized A.I.
system.Disease and illness is caught — and treated — as early as possible.This is the healthmaxxing future that the $44 billion global wearable industry is rapidly manifesting, as a swath of smart watches, smart rings and smart bands offer new takes on tracking health and fitness data.Since the release of the pioneering Fitbit Tracker in 2009, consumer interest has powered the category.
But what has caught the attention of venture capital firms and some of the biggest companies in the world — including Apple, Samsung, and Google (which paid $2.1 billion for Fitbit in 2021) — is a vision that could be even more profitable.“The end goal is to be part of the medical ecosystem,” said Jitesh Ubrani, an industry analyst with IDC, a technology research company.“It’s a very lucrative market to be in if every hospital and doctor recommends one of these devices.”That long game also partly explains why the knives are out: The smart ring maker Oura, which recently filed confidentially for an I.P.O., has sued seven competitors over patent infringement.
It has won against three, with four cases pending.Apple Watch, which sells more devices in a quarter (around eight million) than Oura has ever sold, is also embroiled in at least two patent infringement lawsuits.Amid the fierce competition, companies have taken small steps toward integrating with hospitals and health care providers.
Apple has partnered with health care data giant Epic Systems.Oura paired up with Dexcom, a maker of continuous glucose monitors, which invested $75 million into the Finnish-American ring maker in 2024.
(Rather than “fitness wearable...