The rapid penetration of smartphones and the internet, as well as supportive government policies have propelled the growth of the market. The second wave of COVID-19 fuelled the adoption of mobile healthcare as a comprehensive strategic plan for disease management. In the wake of the pandemic, it is being used actively to maintain social distancing and for contact tracing, disease monitoring, and exchanging data. However, the uncertain performance of various mobile healthcare solutions and inadequate technology infrastructure are major challenges to its adoption. The market was valued at INR 107.51 Bn in FY 2021. It is expected to reach INR 545.38 Bn by FY 2027e, expanding at a CAGR of 29% during the FY 2022 FY 2027e period.

Segment insights:

The market is categorized into two key segments Devices and services. The devices segment consists of wearables and monitoring gadgets that are expensive for low-income groups. The services segment comprises healthcare apps, which offer similar functions such as heart rate and blood pressure monitoring, and sleep tracking at considerably low prices. They even come with free trials for customers.

A major section of the population prefers healthcare applications because they work easily on mobile devices, are affordable, and are interoperable, which is not the case for devices. The increased adoption of mobile healthcare apps, owing to improved healthcare delivery and clinical outcomes is projected to drive the growth of the mobile healthcare services market.

The demand for health condition management apps is expected to spurt during the forecast period. This is because of the increase in the adoption rate of disease-specific apps, online consultation apps, womens health and pregnancy apps, and medication reminder apps. Also, sensor technologies can be utilized to make mobile devices important components of diagnosis as diagnostic tools to address several real-life challenges.

Impact of COVID-19:

The healthcare industry witnessed radical changes in terms of consumer behavior. Some of the key changes are the adoption of connected devices, focus on disease prevention, and enhanced patient engagement. COVID-19 has disrupted the nationwide healthcare system and has positively impacted the mobile healthcare market.

Digital and e-services platforms such as e-pharmacy and online consultation further developed because of the pandemic. Mobile healthcare has the potential to grow into a large market since it has gained momentum recently. The second wave of COVID-19 led to a tremendous boost in sales and aftermath of the third wave is projected to add to this growth.

The sale of devices such as pulse oximeters, blood pressure monitors, digital thermometers, and glucometers had surged in the second quarter of 2020. Amazon and Flipkart have witnessed a record spike in the sale of SpO2 oximeters; since April 2021.

Competitive insights

The mobile healthcare market comprises various start-ups that face intense competition from each other. The players are focused on scaling up their businesses and portfolios to address the high potential of the market.