Saudi Arabia Wearable and Audio Devices Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023-2028)

The Saudi Arabia Wearable and Audio Devices Market is expected to register a CAGR of 11.5% over the forecast period. Furthermore, the market growth of wearables in the country is influenced by technological advancements in software and hardware components, increasing implementation across various verticals, and increased adoption in fitness and healthcare, which are driving the market growth in the forecast period.

Key Highlights

• The market for wearables in the country is also driven by the rising awareness of health and fitness, where wearable sensors play a vital role. Sensor-embedded wearable devices monitor bodily activities, such as body temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate. The demand from the healthcare industry has been driving the wearables market, as it enables remote data access.
• According to the NLM, the prevalence of CAD is slightly higher in men than in women across all age groups, with a steep increase in prevalence in both genders as age increases in Saudi Arabia.The majority of CAD in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) was counted at 5.5%, with slightly higher rates in urban areas compared to rural areas (6 vs. 4.2%, respectively) in the last year.
• Consumer demand for high-performance home theater experiences is increasing in Saudi Arabia, owing to increased disposable income, which will drive home audio demand in the coming years.Reduced manufacturer focus on built-in sound quality in television sets is expected to amplify the need for external audio solutions, thus benefiting market growth. For instance, in October 2022, LG launched the previous year's XBOOM speaker lineup in Saudi Arabia. The new LG XBOOM Go lineup (XG5, XG7) boasts a unique track type, a stunningly loud sound-producing woofer, and a bass enhancement algorithm that delivers that ribcage-rattling deep bass even as low as the volume goes.
• In September last year, NEOM announced the opening of NEOM Media Village and Jeddah Desert Studios, which contain the largest sound studios and film production support facilities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Through the NEOM project, Saudi Arabia wants to build a city that runs on its own energy and food and is based on technology. The Kingdom hopes that this will help it add more than twice as many people to its population.
• Furthermore, the increasing number of smartphone and tablet users in the country is expected to provide lucrative opportunities for market growth as they enable the integration of wearable devices. According to Cisco Systems, in the last year, there were 30 million total Internet users (83% of the population) in Saudi Arabia. Also, networked devices recorded 194.1 million in the same year.
• Moreover, design and complexity present challenges for developing high-efficiency audio equipment, as there are high interface integration issues with increased complexity in designing mixing circuits, especially for audio mixers and amplifiers.
• The COVID-19 pandemic brought in a lot of changes pertaining to the buying approach of customers. The working-class population of the country adopted wearables, such as a smartwatch and wearable medical devices, to maintain health and fitness amidst work-from-home conditions. From the perspective of enterprises, the lockdown enacted by the country resulted in the shutdown of manufacturing facilities combined with strict restrictions on social movement. This impacted the overall operations of manufacturing facilities. The studied market is expected to grow as the consumer electronics industry increases in the reviewed market.

Saudi Arabia Wearable & Audio Devices Market Trends

Healthcare Segment Holds Significant Market Share

• The increasing focus of healthcare agencies on early diagnosis and treatment for improved quality of life and reduced health risks is leading to increased adoption of wearable medical devices and supporting their market growth. Increasing demand for diagnostic and surgical procedures and rising personal disposable income support the development of Saudi Arabia's wearable medical device market.
• Also, Siemens Healthineers and SAJAYA Healthcare Services Company just signed an agreement to provide the most comprehensive integrated diagnostic services (laboratories, radiology) and specialized home care in Saudi Arabia.
• Increasing investment in healthcare may further drive the studied market's growth. For example, according to the General Authority for Statistics (Saudi Arabia), this statistic describes Saudi Arabia's inpatient healthcare expenditures from 2017 to the previous year.Last year, the spending on inpatient healthcare in Saudi Arabia totaled 29.2 billion U.S. dollars.
• Furthermore, technology may significantly enable citizens to take greater ownership of their health and better engage with the health system and providers. For instance, telemedicine and wearable health monitors are changing how healthcare can be delivered. For instance, in June last year, Bupa Arabia launched an innovative telehealth platform for a seamless customer experience. The move is in line with the Ministry of Health's 'E-Health Strategy' and its efforts to expand the scope of telemedicine services in the Kingdom.
• Cancer patients are undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy as therapeutic treatments for their cancer conditions. Demand for wearable medical devices is also increasing due to the rapidly growing population concerned about their health conditions. According to the World Bank, the country's population may reach 45.1 million by 2050, with a 1.02% average annual growth. This increase in population is anticipated to boost the demand for healthcare services in the country.
• The demand for electrocardiogram (ECG) devices is growing in Saudi Arabia due to the high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, their underlying causes, such as obesity and high blood pressure, and technological developments in ECG monitoring. For instance, per the data published by the University Center for Obesity Research at King Saud University last year, obesity rates in the Kingdom are not well documented. However, several recent studies have found that they are alarmingly high, with 23.6 percent of women and 14 percent of men obese.

Increasing Technologically Connected Youth Population

• Saudi Arabia has the largest, most literate, and technologically connected youth cohort in its history. The young generation is in the vanguard of the movement involving the growing use of innovations such as wearable devices and virtual reality (VR). They are always looking for something new and different, and they are becoming more picky about the technology they use.
• With over two-thirds of the population younger than 35, wearable devices have garnered increased attention in the country as they enable users, especially youth, to play virtual reality games, watch augmented reality videos, and listen to music. According to Saudi Aramco, the youth population is projected to grow by 25.2% to become one of the youngest nations on earth by 2030.
• In addition, the country has been witnessing increased internet and social media usage. Abdullah Alswaha, Saudi Arabia's Minister of Communication and Information Technology, anticipates that the adoption of technology will be fully powered by the youth population, with 70% of the population under the age of 30. Furthermore, according to MDPI, 29.50 million people in Saudi Arabia were recorded as social media users in the previous year.
• The increasing youth population in the country may further drive the demand for wearable and audio devices. For instance, according to the IMF, the country's total population amounted to 36.17 million inhabitants in the last year and is anticipated to grow to 39.93 million in 2027.
• Furthermore, in responding to such a change in behavior, entertainment providers in the country have accepted the challenge of attracting young Saudi Arabians who are strongly driven by social media and are known for their connectivity. For instance, the Qiddiya is slated to be the largest entertainment center in the world by 2030; being built near Riyadh, it aims to keep these young consumers technologically connected. Factors like these are expected to spearhead the demand for wearable devices in the region.

Saudi Arabia Wearable & Audio Devices Market Competitor Analysis

The market for wearables and audio devices in Saudi Arabia has favorably consolidated, as a few prominent international and regional players hold most of the market share. The market in the region is highly competitive, and players are adopting strategies such as product innovation and partnerships to maintain their competitive advantage. Moreover, low prices and the difficulty of sustaining the rapidly growing technology are significant barriers to entry for new players.

In October 2022, Samsung Electronics will partner with Servify, a global product lifecycle management platform, to bring Samsung Care+ to Saudi Arabia. Samsung Care+ is a comprehensive device care plan that includes Galaxy smartphones and tablets. This collaboration will ensure that Samsung users in Saudi Arabia have easy access to Samsung Care+, which provides benefits such as total damage protection, certified repair service, a hassle-free claims process, and free pick-up and drop service.

In January 2022, at the 2022 Arab Health exhibition, Medtronic showed off its newest Medtech inventions for a variety of diseases. These included the Hugo robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) system, the PillCam, the Pacemaker, and the InPen.

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