Smart fitness equipment are used for physical exercises that help in managing overall weight, improve physical stamina, and develop muscular strength. These devices are used to track information including sleep, steps, calories, heart rate, and other physical status, which further help in improving the overall fitness of the human body.

Rising awareness regarding health and fitness is one of the major driving factors for growth of the market

Rising awareness among people related to health and fitness is one of the major driving factors for growth of the global smart fitness market. The factor attributed to growth of the market is rising health issues such as obesity, diabetics, heart attack, which further increases demand for fitness equipment. For instance, in 2013, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation analysis, nearly 30% of the world population was suffering from obesity or overweight, globally. Moreover, according to the diabetics.org, the total number of people in the U.S. suffering from diabetics was 7.2 million in 2014, and in 2015, 1.5 million new cases were reported which was 6.7% per 1,000 persons. Therefore, increasing awareness among people will proportionally demand for such fitness equipment, which will help them to track health related information such as heart rate, amount of calories burned and workout time. This is expected to further help to improve their overall fitness of the body, in turn aiding in growth of the global smart fitness market.

Furthermore, growing government initiative programs related to health awareness is another factor propelling growth of the market. For instance, in May 2004, in the 57th World Health Assembly (WHA) endorsed the World Health Organization’s (WHO), Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity, and Health. The aim of this strategy is to promote and protect health by guiding at each individual, community, national, and global level such that it helps in reducing disease and death rates related to unhealthy diet and physical inactivity.

High initial cost of equipment is one of the major factors restraining growth of the market

High price of smart fitness equipment is major factor that limits growth of the market. This pushed start-up gyms & fitness centres and in-house users to buy second-hand equipment. Therefore, high prices of these equipment is a major factor hampering purchase of new equipment for commercial purposes. This is expected to negatively affect sales of new smart fitness equipment.

Global Smart Fitness Market: Segment Trends

On the basis of product type, the smart watch segment accounted for the largest market share in 2017 and is expected to retain its position during the forecasted period. This is owing to high demand for wireless health monitoring devices. For instance, according to the Coherent Market Insights' analysis, the total unit of smart watches sales in 2016 was US$ 36 million and it increased to US$ 76 million in 2017, globally. These smart watches carry out multiple functions such as real-time heart rate monitoring, fitness monitoring, tracking footsteps, tracking number of calories burnt, overall sleep statistics, tracking exercise training, and tracking of user’s daily routine to offer valuable insights on their health. This further helps doctor to diagnose their patient's health remotely. This is expected to aid in growth of the segment over the forecast period.

Global Smart Fitness Market: Regional Insights

North America held a dominant position in the global smart fitness market in 2017, and is expected to retain its dominance throughout the forecast period (2018–2026). This growth is attributed to increasing number of health issue related to obesity such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and others, which directly affects adults, youth, and children. For instance, according to the National Centre for Health’s analysis, in 2017, in the U.S. 40% of adults and 19% of youths were suffering from obesity. Therefore, growing concern among people about health related issues is leading to increasing demand for fitness equipment, in order to manage their fitness. Hence, all these factors will help in propelling growth of the smart fitness market in this particular region.

Global Smart Fitness Market: Competitive Landscape

Major players operating in the global smart fitness market are Apple Inc., Fitbit Inc., Garmin Ltd., Jawbone, LG Electronics, MAD Apparel, Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Sony Mobile Communications Inc., Polar Electro, and OMsignal. Major players in the market such as Apple Inc., Fitbit Inc., Samsung, and others are focusing on adopting mergers and acquisitions strategy, in order to strengthen their foothold in the market. For instance, in February 2018, Fitbit, Inc. acquired the Twine Health. The aim of the acquisition is to increase their offerings in the healthcare sector, which further helped the company to gain a competitive edge in the market.

Global Smart Fitness Market: Taxonomy

By Product Type

Smart watch

Wristband

Smart Clothing

Smart Shoes

Bike Computers

Others

By Devices Type

Head-wear

Torso-wear

Hand-wear

Leg-wear

Bike mount

By Region

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Latin America

Middle East

Africa

Key Developments

In September 2019, Lenovo, a Chinese tech giant, launched Carme smartwatch with 24 hours heart rate tracker in India at approx. US$50.

In February 2019, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. unveiled three new galaxy wearables, including Galaxy Fit, Galaxy Watch Active, and Galaxy Buds for Balanced and Connected Living.

In June 2019, Fitbit Inc. introduced four new products, which include Fitbit Versa Lite Edition, Fitbit Inspire, Fitbit Inspire HR, and Fitbit Ace 2 to make health and fitness accessible to more consumers around the globe.

In April 2019, Precor Inc., a fitness kit supplier, has signed an agreement with Sony to deliver smart gym solution.

In September 2019, Garmin International, Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd., launched the next generation of the vívomove series hybrid smartwatches with new advanced features such as connected GPS and Garmin Pay.