Apple Preparing for Battle in the Wearable Device Market

In recent months, Apple has welcomed a host of new hires who are expected to make major contributions to the company’s future forays into the world of wearables. The market for wearable devices is poised to explode, and Apple has geared up for heated competition by beefing up its fashion, fitness, biometrics and medical research departments.

Here’s a closer look at who’s come on board in each of these key categories:

• Fashion. Key fashion industry professionals who have recently come into Apple’s circle of influence include Paul Deneve, the ex-CEO of fashion label Saint Laurent, and Angela Ahrendts, the former head of Burberry who is now leading Apple’s retail operations arm.
• Fitness. Two former Nike employees, Jay Blahnik and Ben Shaffer, joined Apple in the latter half of 2013. Both are believed to be key players in Apple’s development of wearable fitness gear and performance tracking devices.
• Biometrics. Apple’s biometrics research department has grown to include blood analysis experts Michael O’Reilly and Marcelo Lamago, as well as health-focused hardware engineer Nancy Dougherty. New hardware development director Todd Whitehurst, who joined Apple last summer, also has a background in biometrics.
• Medical. In the medical research department, Apple’s key hire has been Dr. Roy J.E.M. Raymann, who left Philips to come to Cupertino in February of 2014. Dr. Raymann is considered one of the world’s preeminent sleep researchers, and onlookers expect that he will make key contributions to Apple’s development of products that will measure various aspects of sleep and rest in terms of their effects on health and athletic performance.

Bluetooth app developers looking to develop software products for wearable devices may want to focus on these verticals. Industry analysts anticipate that they will comprise the lion’s share of the wearables in development at Apple and its competitors.

If you’re a San Francisco mobile app developer, it’s certainly worth keeping a close eye on future developments and wearable market rumors coming out of Silicon Valley.