Connectivity and Mobile Trends 2021
In Feb/Mar 2021, “42% of smartwatches were used for workouts & athletic performance”, at least that’s what Deloitte’s study of over 2000 Americans recently found.
Their data also suggested that 14% of consumers bought a smartwatch/fitness tracker since Covid 19 began and, if true, that’s a big increase in the number of people exercising and this anecdotally ties in with what other studies have found like recent data from Strava. Indeed, the Deloitte research also found that 18% of existing smartwatch owners used their technology more during the pandemic with some demographics using their technology significantly less, notably Generation Z (below) where 31% used less activity tech.
Surprisingly to me, the majority of smartwatch users still look at their daily steps. There has been plenty of media coverage discrediting the validity of 10,000 steps per day but it seems that people want an easy-to-understand metric and perhaps also one that is relatively easy to achieve. That said, doubts exist about heart rate, calorie and sleep data as well!
I would be interested to see how the SLEEP usage of 35% has trended compared to the previous year. I would imagine it has increased as the tech companies have increased their efforts to market their competencies in that area.
Another interesting stat was that 27% of people are interested in buying a smartwatch for the first time but a whopping 39% of those who do not own the technology cite COST as the main inhibiting factor. Again this is surprising as there are many super-cheap pieces of tech.
Takeout
Unsurprisingly people are using ever more fitness technology. Perhaps there would be more insightful nuggets in the details of a similar but larger study.
More Info: Deloitte
Last Updated on 25 January 2026 by the5krunner
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tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors. ID
