As the saying goes 100 million can’t be wrong. According to new study conducted by Juniper Research the next five years will see a major shift towards smartphone- based mHealth, where hardware attachments link to companion app on the smartphone. The Mobile Health & Fitness: Monitoring, App-enabled Devices & Cost Savings 2013-2013 report forecasts that y 2018 there will be 96 million users of app-enabled mHealth and mobile-fitness hardware devices, up from 15 million this year.
Moreover, the report noted that it will be the mFitness sector that will experience strongest growth in the short and medium term, and that this growth will be driven by a motivated target market, as well as an increasing demand for lifestyle consumer applications and a diversifying array of attachments.
“As mobile fitness devices become more widespread, they will pave the way for more critical mHealth services delivered through the smartphone,” said the report’s author Anthony Cox. “While mHealth and mobile fitness are two discrete markets – with divergent audiences – increased usage of the former will stimulate wider awareness of the latter.”