Whose wearing what? Key players in wearable technology

An analysis and assessment of the key players in the Wearable Technology Ecosystem.

Who are the key players in the Wearable Technology Ecosystem?  To answer this question we must first understand the different roles and relationships that make up the wearables technology ecosystem, this includes the following types of organisations: research institutes; industry associations; designers & brands; system or technology platform providers; and specialized manufacturers.  Some companies are primarily focused on a single organisational role, for example: MIT research institute and Stanford Center for Medical Mobile Technology; designer brands such as Adidas and Ralph Loren; technology or infrastructure providers such as Intel and IBM; or specialised contract manufacturers such as Jabil and Flextronix (Flex).  Other companies, such as Apple and Samsung span across a range of roles from brand, design, system and technology platforms, and manufacturing.  Although established global companies such as Google and  Intel have the advantage of size; there are a number of start-ups such as Imprint Energy that have the potential to significantly impact the market.

Research Institutes and Technology Incubators:

• MIT Wearable Computing Lab
• Stanford Center for Medical Mobile Technology
• UC San Diego Center for Wearable Sensors
• Georgia Tech Wearable Computing Center
• Drexel University Shima Seiki Haute Laboratory
• Electronics Laboratory Wearable Computing Group
• Wearable World Laboratory
• A host of other North American, European and Asian entrepreneurial universities and research institutes (especially in USA and PRC)

Technology, Infrastructure, and Platforms:

• Apple 
• Google (Alphabet)
• IBM
• Intel
• Microsoft
• Samsung

Brands & Designers:

• Adidas
• Apple 
• Ralph Lauren
• A host of other smaller designers/brands

Specialised Manufacturers / Supply Chain Managers:

• Flextronix (Flex)
• Foxconn
• Jabil
• A host of other smaller companies (many based in PRC)

Technology based Start-Ups:

• Imprint Energy
• OMSignal
• Quanttus
• A host of other technology based start-ups targeting the wearables market (check out the Dow Jones Venture Source or CBInsights Venture Capital databases for a more complete listing).

Industry Groups & Associations, and related information resources:

• Consumer Electronics Association - Consumer Electronics Show
• CNET Wearable Technology Forum
• CTIA
• IDTechEx Wearable Conference
• Tech.co Wearables
• Application Developers Alliance (IoT Report)
• Wearable Technologies Conference (Wearable Technology Network)
• Wearable Tech Insider
• Wearable Technology in Enterprise Summit (BrainXchange)
• Plus the usual suspects ... IDC, Forrester Research, etc.

For a more extensive list of companies that participate in the Wearables Technology Ecosystem refer to "The M2M, IoT & Wearable Technology Ecosystem: 2015 - 2020 -Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies, Industry Verticals and Forecasts" report.  For a more extensive list of wearable products refer to the Vandrico Wearable Tech Market Report.

Wearables is too broad and complex a market and set of technologies for a single company to master on its own.  Therefore a key to market success is the ability to collaborate and synergize with the other market players (for example Apple and Hermes collaboration); and to rapidly identify new market entrants (start-ups) that will shape the future of this market (such as the Flextronix investment in OMSignal, and Foxconn funding a Wearable Technology Incubator).

Key: Major industry players, vertical (cross-role) integrators and technology based start-ups.  We expect that the key players of the future will be: 

• major industry players such as Apple that have the brand, design, technology and manufacturing resources to create or dominate new wearable product categories.
• existing (larger) organisations that are successfully able to (vertically) integrate across different roles (for example specialty manufacturers such as Jabil and Flextronix (Flex) offering human factors design engineering in addition to their specialised design and manufacturing skills); 
• start-ups that are able to establish unique capabilities within a single (often technology) role that complements the overall market.  For example: Imprint Energy in the area of battery technology; OMSignal in biometric smartwear; or Quanttus in the area of personal health sensors and services.