How Apple is leaning on design & privacy to succeed in the health industry

Chance Miller | Jul 7 2018 - 10:10 am PT

As past reports have indicated, Apple has a growing interest in the health care industry. The company has made notable hires in the field and is continuing to turn the iPhone into a home for medical records.

A new report from CNBC this week explores how Apple is aiming to succeed in the crowded medical industry…

CNBC explains that on a broad scale, tech companies like Alphabet, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Salesforce are able to make big moves in the health industry because they are “sticking to what they know.” This means they’re each sticking to their respective strengths, rather than trying to revolutionize the entire market.

For Apple, as the report explains, this means leaning heavily on things like privacy, consumer trust, and design.

Apple’s health group is succeeding by leaning into its expertise in design and consumer trust. The Apple Watch is helping consumers stay healthy by getting them to set and stick to regular exercise goals.

It’s come up with a way for people to use the iPhone to compile and store their medical records — the kind of information that plays perfectly into Apple’s emphasis on consumer privacy and its disinterest in targeted advertising.

Apple is also using its own employees as a way testing the provider side of healthcare, working through AC Wellness to offer its own employees the “world’s best healthcare.”

On the other hand, Apple is staying away from areas it has little expertise. This means any areas that are heavily regulated, such as medical devices and pharmaceutical sales:

What isn’t it doing? Anything that is heavily regulated, like medical devices or pharmaceutical sales, where Apple has little relevant experience. Cook has made clear in interviews that he doesn’t want the Watch to become a regulated medical product.

This, however, isn’t to say that Apple doesn’t have an interest in these areas. It was reported last year that Apple was among nine technology companies chosen by the Food and Drug Administration to test a new pilot program that could allow health products to be developed and released with less delay.

What ultimately comes of Apple’s health efforts remains to be seen. Read the full CNBC report right here.