“Apple announced some exciting news for health care investors last week by unveiling its new HealthKit platform, which aims to serve as a single repository for health care data from a variety of compatible devices,” Michael Douglass and David Williamson write for The Motley Fool. “A variety of companies with partnered devices were named, including Nike (with Fuelband), privately-held Epic Systems (a major EHR player), and the well-known Mayo Clinic.”
“HealthKit and Apple’s related app, called ‘Health,’ will both be part of iOS 8. And Apple’s work at providing this central information hub really highlights the opportunity in wearables,” Douglass and Williamson write. “Considering that the wearables market is estimated by research firm Canalys to reach 8 million annual shipments by the end of 2014 (before promptly tripling to 23 million in 2015), this is a hot area for investors to watch.”
In the linked video (38:03), from Where The Money Is, The Motley Fool‘s investing show, healthcare analysts Michael Douglass and David Williamson talk about the opportunities HealthKit opens up for Apple in health care and what investors should be watching for from the tech giant. Direct link to video here.
One thing most people, in my opinion, miss is that Apple is usually always playing the long game, and never the short.
If you looking android, or most of their operating systems, they look to see how many features that they can toss in at any one point in time without regard for whether those features even work well. I think the thought is to get into the system, and then fix it later. Apple, by contrast, makes the new features work reliably then puts it into the operating system. Then, after thorough consumer use, they expand those features to meet the needs of the end-user.
Soon we will see why Apple made the jump to 64-bit devices. They didn’t go because they could, they did it because it’s part of the strategy for where they need to be in two or three, or even more iterations.
Agree. Tortoise and the numerous hares.
Long view for sure, multiple steps sure, slow calculated steps sure.
Small minded companies fight through the feature comparison list (GoogYouAreMine, SameShit, MsoftConfused). AnalCyst often forget to talk about long term factors such as Time before failure, resale value, Total cost of ownership, Customer repeat purchase, Recommending to Friend and family to name a few.
As a huge apple product user and investor, I really hope Tim’s hiring of Beats Exec means some brain power is going behind making sure products that are purely service such as iTunes Radio get more mgmt attention and can move forward without constantly hiding behind iPhone shadows (yes iPhone is more than 50% of Apple’s revenue). Apple has failed every product that requires constant monitoring, adjusting and marketing iAd, Ping, etc… I do believe Tim has been on an executive hiring bing and I keep my fingers crossed that he is fixing the service mindset (ps. Apple tech support is excellent and I am not mixing that with products that purely service such as ping, iTunes Radio, iAd, pref ver of cloud, …)
Usually always?
The naysayers will point put Maps wasn’t exactly carefully put out there. Funny how all the controversy could have been eliminated with the simple addition of the word “Beta.” Live and learn and you can bet they’ll never make THAT mistake again. Other than that yeah Apple is winning in the short and long haul where it counts. I do think the carnage will be particularly acute this fall upon new and updated devices release.
Apple’s long view is based on market analysis, which is obvious to anyone looking at the basic numbers. I’m really surprised it took Apple this long to enter the health arena.
The “health market” is easily understood from existing CDC, Medicare, HHS data and the market is HUGE in the US alone:
1. 120-145 million people in the US have a chronic medical condition (> 100 million have had a STD.)
2. Health is the #2 search category on the Internet.
3. All health related costs are rising: insurance, deductibles, copays, delay times prior to visits/treatments.
4. US Govt. mandates are not going to make treatment better or faster on the average (on many levels, from treating foreign nationals to excess paperwork.)
So what can the average Jack & Jill do? Get smart.
A. Stay healthy, stay fit, take the initiatives
B. Track changes, find the adverse health clues as early as possible.
C. Become a researcher for your own health profile and conditions. Make conscious decisions.
D. Act early: Follow the money, where 80% of healthcare dollars are spent in the last 6 months of life. Which are going to be your last 6 months? After the car accident at 25 or after heart failure at 95?
E. Be prepared to spend cash for your health and healthcare to get the best out of life.
If this is true, you certainly won’t believe the Android Fanatics at CNET, ZDNET and the usual suspects. It’s a contestant, we had that for years and Apple is stealing and catching up again!!!