Market Trends of APAC Smart Watch Industry
Increasing Internet Penetration in the Asia Pacific is Expected to Drive the Studied Market
- The strong economic growth in Asian countries, coupled with the collapse of socialist ideologies regarding information control, has led to explosive internet penetration in the region.
- As of the present year, China has 1,032 million users, a 73 % of penetration rate. An increase of 42.96 million compared to the previous year, the total number of domain names in China reached 35.93 million, and the number of IPv6 addresses reached 63,052 blocks/32, a year-on-year increase of 9.4%; the proportion of IPv6 traffic on mobile communication networks has reached 35.15% according to a report published by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), the 49th Statistical Report on Internet Development in China.
- This is expected to drive smartwatch sales in the country as most of these devices now offer separate payment applications to ease digital payment. For instance, Apple smartwatches have Apple Pay, which enables users to make payments straight from the wrist quickly and securely.
- In addition, many international vendors partner with financial institutions to launch their services in Asian countries. For instance, Apple Pay has partnered with China UnionPay, a state-run company that is the country's only bank-card issuer, to bring Apple Pay to the People's Republic of China (PRC). The users can add a transit card to their Apple Watch and use Express Transit with Apple Pay for public transport in mainland China.
- Fitbit Versa 2, for instance, offers built-in Alexa allowing users to take the help of Alexa with several tasks; this is one of the distinguishing features of the Fitbit offerings. Combined with such vendors in the market, the other operating systems segment holds a major market share and caters to a niche market on customer specifications.
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Medical to Witness Significant Market Growth
- According to Asian Development Bank, Asia's elderly population is projected to reach nearly 923 million by the middle of this century. As a result, the region is on track in the next few decades to become one of the oldest in the world.
- Diabetes is a rapidly growing health challenge among Asians and Pacific Islanders who have immigrated to the United States, affecting about 20 percent of Asian Americans; about 90 to 95 percent of Asians with diabetes have type 2 diabetes (source: OECD).
- Smartwatches could soon measure blood sugar, blood pressure, alcohol, and hydration levels. The innovations come from Rockley Photonics, which announced a small biometric sensor to fit within a smartwatch chassis. For instance, Watch Series 7 monitors blood pressure and ECG.
- Furthermore, K'Watch Glucose is a CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor) device that will track the glucose level continuously throughout the day and night. It checks the sugar levels discreetly by simply glancing at the watch. The glucose trend and history graphs will help to improve glucose level control.
- Various vendors in the market are also investing in developing sensors that can measure multiple other irregularities in real time and save a customer from many tests and checkups. For instance, in September 2022, Apple launched Apple Watch Ultra. This series has powerful health features that can measure changes in body temperature, ECG, Heart health notifications, blood oxygen, and other detections.
- Samsung introduced ECG monitoring for Galaxy Watch Active 2. The South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has cleared the function. The feature uses advanced sensor technology on the Galaxy Watch Active2, enabling users to measure and analyze their heart rhythm for irregularities indicating Atrial Fibrillation.
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