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Dedicated Fitness Trackers To Be Part of ‘Mosaic’ of Activity Devices, Says Parks Blogger

As the market grows for dedicated connected fitness trackers, “expect competition to mount not only from within but especially outside the market from other devices,” including smartwatches and smartphone apps, said Harry Wang, Parks Associates director-health and mobile product research,…

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last week in a CEA blog post. “Some customers might not see the need to buy a separate fitness tracker device if they already have a smartphone or smartwatch,” Wang said. “Most smartphones already support fitness tracking via built-in accelerometers and access to thousands of fitness tracking apps. These customers may feel that a smartphone with a fitness app is all they need.” However, CEA market research has found that consumers “endorse variety and options when it comes to technology solutions,” he said. “So while fitness trackers are ascendant today,” expect these devices to be part of “a mosaic of solutions addressing health and activity monitoring,” he said. “In addition, while fitness is the marketing focus today, the positioning of these products is already shifting to emphasize other measurements like sleep monitoring/tracking.” Though most high-end fitness trackers have incorporated basic sleep-tracking functions, “this feature has begun to find its home in mid-tier and low-end devices as well,” he said. Wang estimated 40 percent of fitness trackers on the market “have built-in sleep tracking features and among high-end models, more than 90 percent have integrated this feature.”