Wearable Technology Industry ESG Thematic Report, 2023

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) in the Wearable Technology Industry

Sustainable and responsible investment has become a key trend in the current era, where stakeholders are enforcing positive change in the economy through supporting ESG policies. 

Wearable technology integrates technology into clothing or accessories that can be worn by the user in the form of jewelry, medical devices, or accessories. As of 2021, the market was worth USD 115.8 billion, and it could further reach a value of USD 380.5 billion by 2028. The Wearable Technology Market has become one of the prominent markets at a global scale.

Leading companies in the wearable technology space are integrating ESG policies within their business operations, making them ethical, responsible, and transparent. A key driver to this increased responsibility is the consequence of e-waste and data breaches resulting from wearable technology products. 

ESG Trends

Top leaders of the wearable technology industry are currently working towards achieving the goals in the components of ESG, introducing and incorporating data privacy policies and environmentally sustainable manufacturing practices and e-waste management practices.

This industry poses key challenges to the environment in terms of management of electronic waste (e-waste) due to the increase in electronic components manufacturing. Further, another challenge is with the ever-increasing demand for wearables; with this comes the need for recharging these wearables which ultimately increases energy consumption. This is followed by the need to protect personal data of consumers and safeguard their privacy. 

Top companies in the market are striving to create a positive environmental impact through strategies for managing e-waste. One of the leading players in this segment has partnered with e-waste managing firms to create a positive impact in terms of managing e-waste. The company has derived a strategy to recollect, recycle, and reuse, end-of-life products used by the consumer. Leading players in the wearable technology market in India are also coming up with e-waste management strategies, thus aligning their operations with the UN SDGs such as responsible consumption.

 The industry creates a significant impact in terms of governance metric. This is in terms of data privacy and protection.

 Smart wearables may collect personal data of consumers including data related to their health which can be highly sensitive. This directly or indirectly breaches the privacy of the consumer and risks the transmission of consumer data without their consent.

One of the top companies from this sector based in Asia has integrated data protection and privacy as a part of its personal policy, where it obtains consent from the customer before collecting data. The company further trains its employees on how to protect customer data and adheres to international and local legal policies and frameworks with respect to handling customer data. Additionally, it has improved the technology to align with the aforesaid policies, making the technology more responsible. Some companies in this industry have created policies on data breach, making it digitally more responsible, thus reflecting its core ethical governance values and consequently impacting the social aspect of the ESG.

Growth Of The Wearable Technology Market:

Key companies in this industry have taken up the issue of e-waste management by introducing strategies to recycle e-waste. Simultaneously, these companies have developed responsibility towards increasing efficiency in energy consumption. For instance, one of the leading companies in the market as of 2022, along with its manufacturing partners from 25 countries have pledged to use renewable energy for their products.

Some other players in this sector have taken crucial steps towards sustainability by incorporating and executing more ethical and responsible policies related to both environment and governance, paving the way for leading companies to follow the same and promote data privacy as its core governance value. 

Hence, the wearable technologies market still has untapped potential in terms of environment, whereas the social and governance parts are evolving by making technologies safer and integrating secured data policies.

Scope of The Wearables Technology Industry ESG Thematic Report:

    • Macro-economic and ESG-variable analysis of the industry, including regulatory, policy, and innovation landscape

    • Key insights on infrastructure developments and ESG issues affecting the theme

    • Identify key initiatives and challenges within the industry

    • Identify ESG leaders within the industry

    • Understand key initiatives and the impact of companies within the sector to fuel an informed decision-making process

    • Analysis of industry activities based on multi-media sources, including significant controversies and market sentiment

Key Benefits of Wearables Technology Industry ESG Thematic Report:

    • Offers a global perspective of Wearable technology products markets and the policies and measures taken by the players.

    • Key insights into the sustainability practices of major players in the market.

    • A brief on risks and challenges faced by the players in the industry while implementing and executing ESG policies.