India’s wearable device shipments may have declined year-over-year last year, but health wearables are still very much in demand as more people look to affordable, high-quality solutions, according to a new study.
As vitamins and higher-nutrition foods become critical to society as a whole, an overwhelming majority of people in densely populated countries such as India look for health-focused tech products that are more accessible and readily available, much like their unhealthy counterparts.
In a new study by Nielson IQ on the global state of health and wellness in 2025, an overwhelming majority of 85 per cent of respondents in India, China, and Indonesia believe that companies now have an obligation to create affordable health-focused products. This is not limited to pharma offerings but also tech products.
More than 44 per cent of the surveyed cited the difficulty of finding healthy alternatives as a major barrier. This is where companies can position themselves to address the gap. Moreover, it would help their brands gain significant consumer loyalty.
India’s obsession with health tracking is now out for everyone to see. The sheer market interest in self-tracking technology products for health metrics is a great opportunity for wearables and home diagnostics, the study notes.
Demand for wearables has shot up in India in recent years. At least 47 per cent of the study respondents in India, China, and Indonesia brought wearables (fitness trackers or smartwatches) in the past 12 months. This is much higher than the global average of 28 per cent.
Another 39 per cent said that they plan to buy more in the coming 12 months, clearly illustrating a rising market demand.
At least 41 per cent also said they bought personal diagnostics products such as blood pressure monitors, blood sugar monitors, digital thermometers, and so on in the last 12 months—once again, much higher than the global average of 24 per cent.
“Consumers in China, India, and Indonesia display a high affinity for health-focused technology products,” stated the study, citing that 50 per cent of the respondents stated that they “definitely” prefer a technology product that offered extra health and wellness features over one that did not.
But over and above that, the general public sentiment is positive for health trackers like smartwatches.
Around “84 per cent believe health-focused technology products are effective in helping them improve their health and wellness—well above the global average of 63 per cent, making this a key opportunity in the region,” said the Nielsen IQ report.
It also noted that among consumers in the region, 56 per cent looked at improving mental health and well-being as ‘key drivers’ for their choices. Fifty-four per cent chose ‘monitoring physical activity’ while 48 per cent chose ‘cooking more healthily’. Forty-seven per cent of respondents wanted to improve their sleep quality.
Apart from personal trackers and home diagnostics, companies could also explore solutions for public spaces, the study notes.
These also include the installation of ‘health diagnostic pods’ in public spaces like malls, where people can walk in and check their blood pressure, heart rate, and so on. The health pods by Mannings in Hong Kong, which also include ‘Colgate tooth areas’ to check dental health, are excellent examples of the same.
