Wearables could hit $3.3 billion by 2020

Experiencing both growth and shrinkage at the same time, wearable technology could see revenues reaching beyond $3 billion by 2020, wearabletechworld.com reports.

An expanding market for increasingly smaller wearable tech, including wrist-worn fitness bands and smart watches to temporary tattoos and patches that affix to the skin to administer medication and transmit data via Wi-Fi to medical practitioners. These applications continue to see rapid growth, the report says—so quickly that a recent study from Tractica, a Boulder, Colo., market research firm that specializes in human-technology interface, predicts the current rate of 67,000 annual shipments for wearable patches will grow to 12.3 million by 2020 and propel revenue to $3.3 billion.

The study notes there will be no shortage of populations, from the aging to the chronically ill, who will have unique medical needs, so there will always be applications for these devices. As the medical community seeks ways to make treatments easier and more effective, the new devices hold the potential for wearables to follow patients from the hospital into their homes.