4 trends for sports & fitness wearables in 2016

4 Trends for Sports & Fitness Wearables in

2016

+ Wearables made quite the headlines at CES & enjoyed top spots at best-seller lists during the holiday season.

+ No wearable has been more successful to date than the activity/fitness tracker.

+ Fitness wearables are set to dominate the market until 2018 (according to Juniper Research)

What’s waiting for fitness and sports wearables this year? Here are our predictions.

1. As the #1 focus of fitness enthusiasts, they’ll become a mainstream phenomenon.

+ According to the annual American College of Sports Medicine forecast, wearables will be the #1 fitness trend in 2016.

+ According to Men’s Fitness, all-in-one fitness wearables and heart monitors take the first two spots in the top 10 fitness trends in 2016.

+ Juniper predicts the usage of fitness wearables will treble by 2018.

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A mainstream trend

2. There will be strong competition – so wearables will evolve (or look for a niche)

+ Fitbit is the king of fitness trackers, accounting for over 79% of all sales. That doesn’t mean things will stay that way.

+ Xiaomi, the third largest wearable vendor, with its affordable Mi Band, is a close competitor. In August, Xiaomi was still selling 97% of their devices in China, but budget bands are also drawing attention in the US.

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Competition

+ Smartwatches with advanced sensors are hot on the heels of activity trackers, and the Apple Watch 2’s rumored increased capabilities are generating a lot of buzz online.

+ Fitbit officials confirmed they’ll be looking at a more holistic way to analyze the human body, including, as Fitbit CEO states, “the connection to chronic diseases (diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and more)”.

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3. Wearables might shrink – into ‘disappearables’.

+ ‘Disappearables’ and ‘invisibles’ are the two new buzzwords in the smart technology world. Such devices are seamlessly integrated into the life of the tracked individual.

+ Some wearables end up unused because of how uncomfortable or unfashionable they are. Disappearables want to fix that. The solution is to include sensors embedded in something you’d actually wear.

+ Clothes with professional sensors, such as yoga tights equipped with wireless technology that can correct your form.

+ Tracking technology so tiny it can be tacked onto your skin.

+ This tech can be under your skin too. ‘Ingestibles’ (yes, smart tech that you swallow) and ‘hearables’ also may be part of this trend.

4. Wearable tech will go (further) beyond the gym

+ This technology has been professional for a while already, integrated into an athlete’s’ training regime or sports analytics.

+ Athletes are the main target for the manufacturers of smart clothes.

+ The data from a player’s wearable can enhance the game experience for the spectator (example right here).

Photo credit: Krzysztof Urbanowicz via Foter.com / CC BY

Sports wearables

+ Wearable tech is also likely to target particular sports, since there’s far more to track than just sleep, steps or calories burned.

+ Athos allows you to take a close look at muscle activity. Thanks to ShotScope, your golf swing can be measured. StrikeTec is targeted at boxers. Wareable, in their roundups of smart gadgets, include a category for swimming wearables.

Naturally, a saturated market might be tough for new entrants (though better for the consumer!). On the other hand, the list of new, refreshing possibilites for tech made for a niche sub-market could be endless.

Those special devices seem to have a shot against ‘general’ activity trackers. The giants know this, and specialize, evolve, introduce new devices, new forms – just to stay in the game.

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