The global mobile health market has been the darling of forecasters for some time now, as they see everything from medical video applications to monitors and health-related mobile apps surging as the population ages.
But can an annual growth rate of nearly 50 percent be sustainable?
Yes, insists new data from Grand View Research—and it will drive the value of the market to nearly $50 billion in just five years.
Grand View has been studying mhealth trends for several years and believes all signs point to such explosive growth.
“Per capita health care expenditures have been increasing, which makes medical services unaffordable for a large percentage of the population. As a result, demand for mobile health is expected to increase considerably over the next six years,” its latest report said. “In addition to smartphone proliferation, uptake of 3G and 4G networks is expected to increase demand for telemedicine services. Aging population and growing incidences of diseases linked to changing lifestyles have intensified the need for affordable and accessible health care.”
With mobile medical device designers and makers ready to bring a wave of new products to the market, supply will soon be in synch with demand, the report indicates.
While monitoring devices will compose the bulk of the marketplace in the near term (2012 market revenue $1.2 billion), other segments are heating up and will help drive the expected growth.
Dampers on the trend include safety and privacy issues, but as the market evolves, those are expected to lessen in impact.
Specific key findings from the report include the following:
- Chronic disease management was the largest contributor to the monitoring services market, with higher demand from developed markets of North America and Europe. The market for post acute-care services accounted for 19.5 percent of the overall monitoring services revenue in 2012.
- Diagnosis services are more prevalent in developing markets, and growing adoption of these services is expected to considerably augment access to healthcare in these regions.
- Mobile operators accounted for 48 percent of the overall market in 2012, with the majority of their revenue originating from monitoring services such as independent aging solutions.
- The health care providers market is expected to grow slower than the global average through 2020, at an estimated CAGR of 45 percent. “Quelling credible concerns among users, along with availability of regulatory support is crucial for driving profitability of industry stakeholders,” the report said.
- North America dominated the global market, accounting for 33.5 percent of total revenue in 2012. Highest demand originated from monitoring services, with growing incidences of chronic diseases necessitating the need for mobile health solutions among others.
- High per capita health care expenditure in developed markets is expected to be the key driver for regional growth. Driven by the need for accessible health care, the Asia Pacific market is expected to be the fastest-growing regional market, at an estimated CAGR of 49 percent from 2014 to 2020.