SNS Telecom & IT‘s latest research report indicates that wearable devices can help mobile operators pocket more than $12 billion (€10.07 billion) in annual service revenue by the end of 2021.

While wearable technology has been utilised in vertical sectors such as the military and healthcare industries for many years, ongoing advances have triggered a major resurgence of the concept, particularly among the consumer community. Key enabling technologies including low cost sensors, wireless connectivity, active materials and energy have converged to make wearable technology mainstream.

With the continued miniaturisation of enabling technologies, wearable devices have hit the mass market in a diverse variety of form factors – ranging from smartwatches and fitness trackers to smart glasses to hearables.

Driven by the ability to interconnect with key modern trends of healthcare, fitness, messaging and socialisation, the wearable technology ecosystem is attracting significant levels of interest. Companies as varied as smartphone OEMs, mobile operators, health insurers and retailers are circling the ecosystem alongside tiny startups, all vying for a stake.

In the coming months and years, wearable devices are expected to play a pivotal role in accelerating the adoption of new wireless connectivity technologies including cellular IoT standards – NB-IoT (Narrowband Internet of Things) and eMTC (Enhanced Machine-Type Communication), as well as the 5G NR (New Radio) air interface – which is expected to be used heavily in bandwidth intensive and latency-sensitive use cases such as AR (Augmented Reality) applications running over smart glasses.

SNS Telecom & IT estimates that wearable devices will help mobile operators drive more than $12 Billion (€10.07 billion) in service revenue by the end of 2021, following a CAGR of approximately 36% between 2018 and 2021.

The “Wearable Technology Ecosystem: 2018 – 2030 – Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies, Industry Verticals & Forecasts” report presents an in-depth assessment of the wearable technology ecosystem including market drivers, challenges, enabling technologies, consumer and enterprise applications, key trends, case studies, opportunities, future roadmap, value chain, ecosystem player profiles, vendor market share and strategies.

The report also presents forecasts for wearable device shipments and revenue from 2018 through to 2030. The forecasts cover 9 device form factor submarkets, 7 vertical markets, 6 regions and 73 countries. The report will be of value to current and future potential investors into the wearable technology sector, as well as enabling technology providers, wearable device OEMs, vertical domain specialists and mobile operators who wish to broaden their knowledge of the ecosystem.

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