Apple Watch has European chips inside
The good news for the winners of the design slots – STMicroelectronics and NXP win two chip design slots each and AMS and Dialog Semiconductor one each – is that Yole reckons the wearable electronic equipment market is not just a gimmick and will grow steadily. Yole states that the wearable industry will reach 295 million units in 2020 with a market value of $90 billion.
However, the majority of this market will be consumer applications with healthcare picking up 75 million units of the annual market in 2020 Industrial and military applications will be yet fewer, about 10 million units in 2020, Yole reckons.
This strong consumer growth market needs to be squared away with a survey that indicates about 99% of wearable electronics owners stop using them within six months (see Chinese consumers losing interest in wearables?). Nearly 50% stop using their wearables within one month, according to the report by Chinese Internet service portal, Tencent.
Wearables application breakdown 2012 to 2014. Source: Yole Developpement.
Impulse buying and fashion can drive a market, which may explain why Yole thinks the wearables market in 2015 is going to be worth about $20 billion as consumer wearable equipment makes a significant spurt of growth to go past the traditional medical wearables such as the hearing aid. The consumer wearables market is mainly fitness bands and smart watches.
The healthcare market, which covers devices like hearing aids, blood pressure monitors and back monitor sensors, is growing more slowly and has lower numbers but with higher value.
Next: Apple Watch
Software is key because sensors alone can only produce data that is hard to interpret. Algorithms and software are required to turn that data into meaningful and reliable information that can be acted upon, says Yole.
Which speaks to the presence of the STMicroelectronics inertial measurement unit (IMU) within the Apple Watch and an ST32 microcontroller.
Apple Watch: not destined for the back of the draw?
Wearables such as smart glasses/HUD and smart clothing are well suited to industrial and military applications. Head-up displays will enhance worker and soldier capabilities and that market is expected to be worth $4 billion in 2020.
Large organizations such as GE, Honeywell, Boeing and Airbus are testing, or already using such HUDs to simplify maintenance, increase productivity or provide remote assistance to workers, Yole said.
Next: Apple Teardown
Prominent non-European winners in the Apple Watch are Apple itself, which provides the processor as a custom ASIC, Broadcom and Skyworks who provide the Wi-Fi subsystem. IDT wins the wireless charger application and Analog Devices the touchscreen controller. Maxim does audio duties and Elpida/Micron and Toshiba/SanDisk the memory.
Apple Watch teardown. Source: Yole Developpement.
From Europe the combination of NXP and AMS provide the NFC radio and Dialog provides the power management IC.
Yole Developpement: www.yole.fr
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