Read our updated trends report here: 2024 Wearable Device Trends

Clarkston’s team of medical device and technology consultants have highlighted the top wearable device trends that businesses should consider. Read all five trends for 2023 by downloading the full report here.

New digital advancements have accelerated the timeline for innovation in the wearable device industry – an industry with a market value of roughly $116 billion in 2021 and expected to grow to nearly $380 billion by 2028.  

The demand for data-driven wearables in the healthcare and wellness industry has increased as society continues to rapidly adopt a more virtual environment. This is reflective of the overall industry shift toward wearable devices that aren’t just used for fitness monitoring, but those that also continuously track physiological measurements for disease monitoring, treatment, and research. As consumers continue to prioritize their own health and well-being, their increased interest in a more holistic device has driven a change in wearable products and opened market opportunities in the wellness space.  

While there are barriers to entering this industry due to increased regulations and supply chain challenges, there are still a variety of access points if done correctly. In this report, we explore five trends that will impact the wearable device industry in 2023.

2023 Wearable Device Trends

Trend #1: From Fitness Device to Holistic Device

Previously, the wearable market was tailored to individuals who highly prioritized health and fitness, and companies such as Fitbit dominated this market. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted consumer interest toward a more health-centric focus, however, and consumer demand now surrounds devices that can track holistic health measurements.   

According to one study, approximately 30% of U.S. adults use wearable healthcare devices; of those users, nearly half wear a device daily. These healthcare wearables consist of bands, clothes, or patches. The most cutting-edge wearable type would be e-textiles, or smart clothes. These devices utilize interwoven electric sensors in clothing with varying capabilities, such as diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventative measures, and can provide an optimized point-of-care platform to patients. One example of a company aligning with this shift is Dorsavi, a wearable device company that previously specialized in fitness tracking metrics, such as biomechanical movements. Now, Dorsavi has created smart clothes that assess a movement’s risk of injury, actively aid in recovery, and can sense when an athlete is healed – these clothes are currently in the clinical trial phase. While still fitness-related, these innovative products reflect the holistic treatment aspect that wearables are shifting toward. In the coming years, we expect to see companies continuing to roll out innovative technologies to best meet the increased consumer demand for holistic monitoring devices.  

Trend #2: Increased Accessibility to Time-Sensitive Health Data

Wearable devices continue to enable greater accessibility, in both the clinical space and the at-home wellness arena, when it comes to collecting time-sensitive health data.

Clinical trials are a great example of the success of decentralizing processes that were previously thought to only be effective in person, and we saw a 28% increase in the number of trials with a decentralized or virtual component in 2022. One reason for success in decentralized clinical trials is due to the improved monitoring capabilities of healthcare wearables, made possible by the introduction of 5G. 5G allows for decreased data transfer time as well as increased connection capabilities, so patients can be farther from their physician without compromising the effectiveness of the device – previously a challenge in this space. Continue reading by downloading the full report below.

Download the Full 2023 Wearable Trends Report Here

Don’t forget to read this year’s 2023 Medical Device Industry Trends here, and read last year’s Medical Device Industry Trends Report here.

Contributions from Sarah Radebaugh