Wearables Competitive Landscape 2015

FOR M UL A CO M PON E N T
Wearables Competitive Landscape 2015
April 4, 2016
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Table of Contents
What is the scope of competition?
3
What are 5 killer fitness apps?
12
Samsung
3
Nike+ Running for Apple
12
Android Wear
3
Hello Heart for Apple
12
Apple
4
FitStar Yoga for Apple
12
Google Glass
5
Google Fit for Android
12
Fitbit
5
Ingress for Android
13
Microsoft
6
What are 5 more killer wearable apps?
14
Jawbone
6
Golfshot for Android
14
Nike
7
PixtoCam for Android
14
Adidas
7
Huebble for Pebble
14
Garmin
8
Empatica Epilepsy Watch
14
Pebble
8
GoPro for Apple
15
Small Players
9
What are the existing ‘digital fabric’ market comps?
16
Digitsole
9
Hypercolor by Generra
16
Skully
9
Nike Dri Fit
16
Oxie
10
Lululemon
16
Fitbit
11
Under Armour
17
Apple
11
Who is at the cutting edge?
18
Android Wear
11
Levi’s x Google: Project Jacquard
18
Who is having success?
11
Google: Project Soli
18
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What is the scope of competition?
The wearables market leading into 2016 is dominated by wrist devices. Our analysis will focus on these
devices while referencing several devices that are on
the fringe of this competitive space. There are several small pockets of highly forward-thinking products
with an undetermined success rate to date. This is
largely due to the infancy of the marketplace and the
short time in the market. The Oculus VR, for example,
does not currently have much mass-market commercial penetration, nor does it offer applications for the
everyday person. The watch sector, in contrast, has
been successfully proven over the last decade.
OS.1 This is a surprising departure as Samsung has always heavily relied on the Android platform.
There are many players in the space. The primary differentiators between products are operating system
and wearable form factor. Most watch products offer
standard data capture and GPS features, with sever
products entering into the personal computing arena. For example, the Android watches give text and
call ability, as does the Apple Watch.
S a m sung G ea rFi t
Samsung
FEATURE
A VA I L A BL E
Call
Text
Email
Heart Rate
Apps
Wifi
Cloud Sync
3G / 4G
Camera
GPS
S a m sung G ea rS
With 1.2 million units sold in 2014, Samsung Gear represents a large player in the space. The Samsung wearable devices have a very similar feature set to Android
Wear devices.
Android Wear
F EA T U R E
AVAILABLE
Call
Unlike Android wear, Samsung Gear uses the Tizen
Text
1
http://www.cnet.com/news/samsung-galaxy-gear-updateswaps-android-for-tizen/
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FEATURE
A VA I L A BL E
Email
Heart Rate
Apps
Wifi
Cloud Sync
3G / 4G
Camera
GPS
Android leads the watch sector in terms of breadth of
manufacturers. They have several vendors on board,
namely Asus, Motorola, Huawei and LG.
While benchmarking the segment, Android watch sales
were a drop in the bucket compared to the launch of
the Apple Watch.2 L ET
Apple
F EA T U R E
AVAILABLE
Call
Text
M ot or ola M oto 3 6 0
Email
As expected, Android watches take advantage of a
simplified Android operating system. This includes
the ability to text, call and email. In addition, access
to heart rate data is also accessible from the watch.
These watches sync data to the cloud via Google’s core
service offerings like Hangout, Gmail, etc.
Heart Rate
Apps
Wifi
Cloud Sync
3G / 4G
Camera
GPS
Apple launched the Apple Watch in early 2015 to much
fanfare. Sales have been very strong, estimated to
reach $35M+ in 2015.3
2
http://www.techradar.com/us/news/wearables/apple-watchsales-1290701
3
http://247wallst.com/consumer-electronics/2015/05/26/can-apple-watch-sales-reach-40-million/
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F EA T U R E
AVAILABLE
Email
Heart Rate
Apps
Wifi
Cloud Sync
3G / 4G
Camera
GPS
Google Glass is one of the few wearable devices that
spans the spectrum between computer, heads up display, and standard wearable device. Released in February of 2013, the product has since been shuttered.4
Go o g l e G l a ss
It is unclear if Google Glass will continue on in some
form in the future.
Fitbit
F EA T U R E
AVAILABLE
Call
Text
Apple’s watch is offers much the same feature set of
the Android watches, albeit with their always closed,
proprietary OS. While the open Android platform has
grown the segment greatly, Apple hopes to capitalize
on its seamless integration into the OSX operating system and sync capability with iTunes and related Mac
applications.
Email
Heart Rate
Apps
Wifi
Cloud Sync
3G / 4G
Google Glass
FEATURE
Camera
GPS
A VA I L A BL E
Call
Text
4
http://www.businessinsider.com/google-ends-sales-of-googleglass-2015-1
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Microsoft
While Samsung, Android Wear and Apple have a sharp
focus on wearble computing, Fitbit focuses more on
the health and wellness segment.
F EA T U R E
AVAILABLE
Call
Text
Email
Heart Rate
Apps
Wifi
Cloud Sync
3G / 4G
Camera
GPS
New for 2015 is the Microsoft Band. Microsoft seems
to be having real success with its Band device. It is
not clear how strong sales have been, but reviews
have been positive.
F it b i t Z i p
F it b it S u r g e
With gross sales for 2015 projected near $1B, Fitbit
dominates the wellness and activity space.5 Together
with their recent announcement of a $100M IPO, Fitbit
looks to continue their success in the health and wellness space.6
Fitbit’s devices use a proprietary OS, then publish data
to their tracking application. The stark simplicity of the
devices and applications seems to have served them
well.
Jawbone
F EA T U R E
5
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julie-ask/fitbit-ipo-the-roadahead_b_7257706.html
AVAILABLE
Call
Text
6
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fitbit-wearable-tech-files-for100-million-ipo/
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F E A T UR E
with $33M in sales, Nike shuttered the popular FuelBand program in 2014.7
A VA I L A BL E
Email
Heart Rate
Apps
Wifi
Cloud Sync
3G / 4G
Camera
GPS
Jawbone and Nike are said to tail Fitbit in sales by
a distant margin. Jawbone is more simple than both
the Fitbit and Nike devices, and could be considered
a glorfied motion capture device.
Ni k e Fuel Ba nd
J aw b on e UP
Jawbone continues to release new products, with
their latest being the “UP3 Tracker.”
Nike
F E A T UR E
Ni k e G P S Wa t ch
A VA I L A BL E
It remains to be seen what Nike’s next wearable technology initatives wiil contain, or when this next initiative will happen.
Call
Text
Email
Adidas
Heart Rate
Apps
F EA T U R E
Wifi
Call
Cloud Sync
Text
3G / 4G
Email
Camera
Heart Rate
GPS
Apps
Nike is one of the more interesting case studies in
the group. Despite dominating the market in 2013
AVAILABLE
7
http://www.cnet.com/news/fuelband-layoffs-nike-signals-it-wasnot-and-never-will-be-tech-company/
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FEATURE
A VA I L A BL E
F EA T U R E
Wifi
Text
Cloud Sync
Email
3G / 4G
Heart Rate
Camera
Apps
GPS
Wifi
AVAILABLE
Cloud Sync
Adidas has also entered the fitness tracker wearables
space. First with their upmarket Run Smart watch,
then again in mid-2014 with their Fit Smart band.
3G / 4G
Camera
GPS
Garmin is an interesting entry into the smart wearables segment. Garmin first began with GPS equipment for cars and gradually made an entry into the
handheld GPS market.
A didas Ru n S m a r t
G a rmi n 620
A didas F it S m a r t
It remains to be seen what Adidas’ level of success
will be.
Garmin
FEATURE
A VA I L A BL E
Call
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Gar min vivoa c t i v e
Garmin has continued using GPS as it’s core product
promise with it’s new activity monitors. These devices are marketed more at the ‘outdoor’ segment. Users can also download GPS data from golf courses.
Pebble
FEATURE
A VA I L A BL E
Call
Text
Email
P ebbl e St eel
Heart Rate
Apps
Wifi
Cloud Sync
Pebble continues to recieve positive reviews on Amazon.
3G / 4G
Camera
Small Players
GPS
Some of the small players in the space are doing very
intersting things.
Pebble claims to have sold over 1M smartwatches to
date.8 Pebble’s key differentiator is app and external
device integration. For example, using the Pebble device to trigger external devices like a camera.
Digitsole
Digitsole launched on KickStarter in September of
2014. The Digitsole acts as both a remote foot warmer and pedometer.
Skully
Skully is a ‘heads up display’ (HUD) for motorcycle
riders. Similar to Google Glass, it can project helpful information like a back-up or blind-spot camera on a small crystal screen inside the helmet.
P e b b le T i m e
8
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102389470
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Oxie
Oxie is a wearable air purifier.
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Who is having success?
Fitbit
and its tablets, Apple is sure to continue it’s dominating performance.
The breakout in the activity monitoring category is
clearly Fitbit.
However, there remains a very large Android customer
base that could first consider other smartwatch platforms before Apple.
Android Wear
Android Wear seems to be following the strategy that
grew Android to where it is currently, as a world leading mobile OS.
The Android platform will always be an attractive option for device manufacturers. They have several vendors on board, namely Asus, Motorola, Huawei and LG.
F it b it S u r g e
With gross sales for 2015 projected near $1B, Fitbit
dominates the wellness and activity space.9 Together
with their recent announcement of a $100M IPO, Fitbit looks to continue their success in the health and
wellness space.10
Apple
The clear winner in the smartwatch category is the
Apple Watch. Nothing even comes close. Apple allegedly sold more in one day than Android Wear sold
in all of 2014.11
Given the success of it’s handheld devices like iPhone
9
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julie-ask/fitbit-ipo-the-roadahead_b_7257706.html
10
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fitbit-wearable-tech-files-for100-million-ipo/
11
http://www.techradar.com/us/news/wearables/apple-watchsales-1290701
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What are 5 killer fitness apps?
The fitness and health/wellness segments are natural
fits for wearable technology. While wearable technology is in its infancy, we expect to see great innovation in
the years to come.
Here are some standout fitness wearable apps.
Nike+ Running for Apple
The beauty of the Nike+ Running app is simplicity.
Primarily a pace tracker, the app also includes social
features and integration with Nike’s other fitness
apps.
FitStar Yoga for Apple
FitStar Yoga is a personal yoga coach in your wearable device. It uses the device’s motion sensor to
judge the quality of your positions.
Google Fit for Android
Google Fit is a general fitness and activity app that
encourages users to be more active.
It would seem that with the advent of high-performance smart watches, Nike has decided to utilize
these devices as opposed to building their own.
Hello Heart for Apple
Hello Heart is a simple heart monitor, data history
repository, and health coach.
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Ingress for Android
While not explicitly a fitness app, Ingress might be
the coolest activity app on the market.
The gameplay consists of establishing “portals” at
places of cultural significance, such as public art,
landmarks, monuments, etc., and linking them to
create virtual triangular “control fields” over geographical areas. Progress in the game is measured
by the number of “mind units” (MUs) captured via
such control fields, i.e. people nominally controlled
by each faction.1
1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingress_%28game%29
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What are 5 more killer wearable apps?
Golfshot for Android
Golfshot for Android is a solid real-world example of
a wearable device in the wild, with a large addressible market.
Golfshot uses GPS and exisitng golf course data to
give precise context to every golf shot at selected
courses.
Huebble for Pebble
The integration of environmental devices and a
smartwatch is a natural fit. While this is not incredibly
compelling, it could be a great addition in the service
or retail industries.
Empatica Epilepsy Watch
This is one watch that can have fantastic real world
implications. The Embrace watch can detect seizures
and alert caregivers of a seizure event.
PixtoCam for Android
Surveillance and security will be a huge theme for the
rest of the century, it seems. PixtoCam is a simple
remote control application between smartwatch and
any Android camera.
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GoPro for Apple
In less than ten years, GoPro has revolutionized personal video. It’s only natural that you can now control
your GoPro from a smartwach.
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What are the existing ‘digital fabric’ market comps?
Hypercolor by Generra
Hypercolor was manufactured by Generra Sportswear Company of Seattle and marketed in the United
States as Generra Hypercolor or Generra Hypergrafix
and elsewhere as Global Hypercolor. They contained
a thermochromic pigment made by Matsui Shikiso
Chemical of Japan, that changed between two colors
– one when cold, one when warm. The shirts were
produced with several color change choices beginning in 1991. Between February and May 1991 they
sold $50 million in Hypercolor garments.1
Lululemon
Lululemon has grown into a bona fide $Billion company. They have a suite of tech fabrics:
Luon
Luxtreme
Swift
Silverescent
Nike Dri Fit
Nike Dri Fit has seen tremendous success since its introduction in 2009. It is unclear the total overall sales
of the Dri Fit line, however the Dri Fit fabric has found
its way deep into their apparel lines.
Dri Fit ‘technology’ has replaced their more traditional fabrics almost entirely.
1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercolor
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Under Armour
Under Armour has also seen incredible success in
the fitness market. With sales of $3B in 2014, they
are a giant in the space.
Like lululemon, they have a suite of tech fabrics:
- Coldgear
- Coldgear Infrared
- Storm
- Charged Cotton
- Heatgear
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Who is at the cutting edge?
imagine the wide range of potential applications for
something like this in the smartwatch category.
While the wearables space is still in its infancy, we are
already starting to see cuting-edge innovation and creativity at the bleeding edge of the segment.
Levi’s x Google: Project Jacquard
Google has been working with Levi’s on developing a
gesture sensitve fabric, called Project Jacquard. The
technology turns ordinary fabric into a touchpad.
Google: Project Soli
With project Soli, Google is developing a sort of ‘radar’ system to interpret hand gestures. One can
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