The sports industry continues to be a hotbed of patent innovation. Activity driven by digital advancements, high-level of social media interactions, broad appeal for immersive sports experience, and fan engagement as well as the growing importance of technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, blockchain, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, cloud, data analytics, wearable tech and many more. In the last three years alone, there have been over 76,000 patents filed and granted in the sports industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Internet of Things in sports: athletic monitoring sensors. Buy the report here.
Smarter leaders trust GlobalData
According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which uses over 49,000 patents to analyze innovation intensity for the sport industry, there are 10+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
Athletic monitoring sensors is a key innovation area in Internet of Things
Smart evaluation based on the constructive insights of athlete data is made possible with athletic monitoring sensors. All the major sports organizations are uncovering the unprecedented capabilities of these monitoring sensors with the aim of optimizing athlete’s performance with real-time information access, monitoring the physical conditions of players, reducing the risk of injury, and intensifying collaboration at all levels.
GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 140+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established sports companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of athletic monitoring sensors.
Key players in athletic monitoring sensors – a disruptive innovation in the sports industry
‘Application diversity’ measures the number of applications identified for each patent. It broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.
‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of countries each patent is registered in. It reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.
Patent volumes related to athletic monitoring sensors
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
Nike is the leading patent filer in athletic monitoring sensors. Some other key patent filers include adidas, Samsung, and Tonal Systems. Athletic monitoring sensors is one of the maturing innovation spheres of the Internet of Things.
In terms of application diversity, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare leads the pack. Alphabet and Nihon Kohden stand in second and third positions, respectively. By means of geographic reach, Nike holds the top position, followed by adidas and InfoMotion Sports Technologies.
Athletic monitoring sensors are well established in sports industry and potentially continue to become the approach favored by many future retailing companies. Wearable tech is the latest crucial innovation altering the style of training in sports for management of training load and avoiding fatigue, overtraining and other undesirable health effects on an athlete.
To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the sports industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Internet of Things in Sport.
Premium Insights
From
The gold standard of business intelligence.
Blending expert knowledge with cutting-edge technology, GlobalData’s unrivalled proprietary data will enable you to decode what’s happening in your market. You can make better informed decisions and gain a future-proof advantage over your competitors.
GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.
GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
