Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that there will be big product launches in 2014, and that the company is entering into a new market. The financial investment firm Morgan Stanley thinks Apple has confirmed that's exactly what's about to happen thanks to a trail of breadcrumbs, and that new market targets our personal health.

The pieces are lining up: Apple is moving into the wearable fitness tech market

In a report for investors, the firm laid detailed Apple's activities over the past couple years, and used that to show a wearable health and fitness-related project is underway in Cupertino.

Starting in 2012, Apple bought Authentec, which is the company behind the iPhone 5S's Touch ID fingerprint sensor technology. Since then, Apple bought the indoor mobile location tracking company WifiSLAM, and the Bluetooth chip company Passif Semiconductor. There's also the ongoing hiring spree of health and fitness technology experts, plus Bob Mansfield's move from senior vice president of technologies to work on special projects.

Some notables from Apple's hires includes health sensor expert Dr. Michael O'Reilly, sleep expert Roy Raymann, non-invasive medical sensor expert Marcelo Lamego, fitness expert Jay Blahnik, and high tech fabric design expert Ben Shaffer.

More breadcrumbs on the trail to Apple's wearable tech launch come from reports that the company has a team of over 100 people working on a watch-type device, and that curved glass is being tested for a wrist-top product.

Stringing all those pieces together points to something big on the horizon for Apple, and that most likely will be a wearable health and fitness device. Mr. Cook also said he is intensely interested in our wrists, adding more to the notion that Apple is seriously working on wearable technology as its next big market.

As if that isn't enough to tip Apple's hand, there's also the company's new patent on fitness tracking earphones, and a report from a Swiss watch maker who said the company tried to poach some of his employees.

Apple isn't confirming anything yet, which isn't a surprise considering the company's long standing policy of not commenting on rumors. Despite that silence, however, there's plenty of evidence to show Apple has some serious plans related to health and fitness tracking, which means competition in that market is about to get very interesting.

[Thanks to Business Insider for the heads up]