Europe Smart Watches Market - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

Europe Smart Watches Market - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

The Europe smartwatch market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.36% during the forecast period. The smartwatch is becoming popular for providing hands-free control and access to data anywhere at any time of the day. Apart from this, biometric functionality, GPS and mapping capability, and independent smartphone functionality are also a few unique features of the smartwatch in line with the increasing disposable income of the people, which is expected to drive the market in European countries.

• With the growing number of connected cars in European countries, the number of features to be used via smart wearables is also increasing. According to Goldman Sachs, the project size of the global market for a vehicle to everything (V to X) technologies is expected to reach USD 14,773 million by 2030.
• In addition to that, most of the automotive players are also teaming up with the smartwatch vendors in the market to utilize the health data of the user and create a better driving experience. For instance, Garmin signed an integral collaboration with German automobile company Daimler AG to bring wearable technology into Mercedes-Benz vehicles as the outcome of their Fit & Healthy project.
• Also, the component suppliers, such as ARM Holding, Bosch, have been actively introducing processors and chipsets, among others, to cater to the ever-increasing needs of the customers for the multipurpose performance features across the fitness and wellness segment.
• For instance, South Australian smartwatch company Spacetalk has signed a deal with its first European retailer in October 2021. The company announced USD 4 million revenue for the first quarter of the 2021-22 financial year, driven by strong growth in United Kingdom. Its AdveIt'ser smartphone watch, aimed at children aged five to 12, is designed to help parents stay in touch with their kids without the complexities and potential pitfalls of mobile phones.
• Moreover, the inaugural European partnership is with Elisa, Finland’sFinland'stelecommunications and digital services company, is expected to lead to more retailers coming on board on the continent in the coming months.
• Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged many vendors to launch solutions to curb the spread of the virus with the help of smartwatches. For instance, Germany’sGermany'sealth authority launched a smartwatch app in partnership with health tech startup Thryve to help monitor the spread of COVID-19 and analyze whether measures to contain the novel coronavirus pandemic are working. The Corona-Datenspende (Corona Data Donation) app enables gathering vital signs from volunteers wearing smartwatches or fitness trackers - including pulse, temperature, and sleep - to analyze whether they are symptomatic of the flu-like illness.

• The World Health Organization anticipates that the global elderly population 60 or older will grow to 2 billion by 2050 (World Health Organization (WHO). Like many other countries, the United Kingdom's age structure is shifting towards older ages. By 2050, it is projected that one in four people in the United Kingdom will be aged 65 years and over -- an increase from approximately one in five in 2019, according to the Office for National Statistics.
• The aging population has increased risks for chronic conditions, falls, disabilities, and other adverse health outcomes. Wearable smart devices have been adopted by adults as well as older people to address some of the difficulties related to detecting and managing unfavorable health conditions.
• According to the Office for National Statistics (United Kingdom), United Kingdom contains one of Europe's largest fitness markets, with total revenue of about EUR 5.3 billion. Since 2012 there has been a consistent increase in the number of fitness facilities in the United Kingdom. According to the Sports Think Tank, the total United Kingdom membership has broken the 10 million mark, and the industry is worth more than GBP 5 billion.
• Further, many governments are utilizing the smartwatch capability to monitor the health data of their citizen during the Covid-19 pandemic. In April 2020, Germany enlisted Fitbit Wearables and Smartwatches in Coronavirus. Germany's center for disease control urged people with smartwatches and fitness bands to share their health data to help keep track of the spread of the coronavirus.
• Moreover, many of the European countries are among the countries with the highest percentage of the older population in the world as per Population Reference Bureau in 2020. This allows the region to have a conducive environment for market growth.

• According to the Cisco Annual IoT report 2018, stated that 578 million wearable devices would be in use over the next four years, up from just 109 million last year, which is a fivefold increase, but more enormously, the flooding of units will result in 18 times the amount of mobile data traffic. Global traffic from wearable devices will account for 1.1% of total mobile data traffic by 2019, compared to 0.6% at the end of last year.
• In addition to that, 5G will be integral to the future of Europe’s digital infrastructure, and the ongoing deployment of 5G in European countries is expected to drive smartwatch sales because of better connectivity and speed.
• For instance, German telecommunications operators secured 5G spectrum licenses in June 2019; they started an aggressive commercial strategy to launch 5G services in the country’s main urban areas. Deutsche Telekom kicked off the rollout of its 5G network in a certain number of cities across Germany at the beginning of July 2019. Telekom’s 5G network is currently available in Berlin, Bonn, Darmstadt, Munich, and Cologne.
• With the rise of 5G, the smartwatch may no longer need substantial physical storage to be built into them and can be used for additional sensors for advanced functionality. With faster connections, lower latency, and effective instantaneous transmissions, users could simply store all their apps and files on the cloud rather than requiring their smartphone or wearable device to include physical storage.
• Many vendors in the market are investing in IoT to increase the connectivity of their smartwatches to offer a better customer experience in the digitalized world. For instance, Tag Heuer, a Swiss luxury watchmaker brand, has designed the new Connected Modular Golf Edition 2019 to enable users to enjoy daily connected services offered from Wear OS by Google to immersive sports experiences through the new TAG Heuer Sports app, which provides detailed tracking for golf, running, cycling, walking, fitness and other sessions through GPS and heart-rate monitor, among other sensors.

The Europe smartwatch market is concentrated due to higher initial investments. It is dominated by a few major players like Apple Inc., Fitbit Inc., ​Garmin Ltd, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd, and TAG Heuer S.A. These significant players, with a prominent share in the market, are focusing on expanding their customer base across foreign countries. These companies are leveraging strategic collaborative initiatives to increase their market share and increase their profitability. However, with technological advancements and product innovations, mid-size to smaller companies are growing their market presence by securing new contracts and tapping new markets.

• March 2020 - TAG Heuer launched its latest smartwatch, the simply-named TAG Heuer Connected. The brand has updated the TAG Heuer Connected and introduced the now very popular modular customization concept that allows for a large range of visual variety in each person’s own smartwatch. It runs the latest version of Google Wear OS as the smartwatch operating system and has a 45mm-wide case that is 13.5mm-thick and water-resistant to 50 meters. The watch has a 430 mAh battery that is said to be good for “all day” with moderate use of all the features and includes both GPS and an onboard heart rate monitor.
• March 2020 - Fitbit and FibriCheck, an innovative health screening and monitoring app, announced the extension of their partnership to enable users in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain to monitor their heart rhythm for irregularities, such as Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) directly from their Fitbit smartwatch.

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