mHealth wearables drive disruption in diabetic care as global sufferers reach half billion

New York, New York - 13 Oct 2016

This year, the global diabetic population crossed half a billion, and it continues to grow. In response, device manufacturers, healthcare providers, and patients are looking for ways to manage this long-term chronic disease in an efficient and unobtrusive way. In its examination of both current and in-development technologies geared toward extending effective diabetes care, ABI Research finds wearable continuous glucose monitoring devices are paramount. Between now and 2021, more than nine million wearable CGM devices will ship, as they increasingly gain support and challenge finger prick glucose meters.

“mHealth wearable device manufacturers integrated the new, non-invasive CGMs and insulin pumps with cloud services, analytics tools, and predictive software to provide new types of pattern analysis in near real time,” says Ryan Harbison, Research Analyst at ABI Research.

The overall diabetic testing market, which includes glucose meters and test strips, will exceed $17 billion in 2021, up from $12 billion in 2016. CGM revenues will grow at a CAGR of 41% over the same period. Existing glucose meter device vendors, such as Bayer and Johnson & Johnson, will increasingly have to compete against CGM specialists, including Abbott, Dexcom, and Medtronic.

“Medtronic has a substantial advantage with its MiniMed CGM system, Abbott focuses on the European market, and Dexcom innovates on existing CGM devices to create all-in-one experiences through mobile integrations,” concludes Harbison. “Glucose meter manufacturers, such as Johnson & Johnson and Roche Diagnostics, can further disrupt this market by developing new form factors, such as contact lenses and skin patches, to create less invasive and more accurate monitoring devices.”

These findings are from ABI Research’s Diabetes: Wearable mHealth Device Market Overview. This report is part of the company’s Smart Home and Wearables & Devices sectors, which include research, data, and analyst insights.