Apple recently made headlines by rolling out its Beddit sleep tracker -- a product that allows anyone to track the quality of their sleep without needing to wear it to bed or worry about turning it on every night. So why is one of the world’s largest tech companies pouring resources into the mundane issue of sleep? Because it isn’t actually mundane: Sleep is the future of health.
You see, wellness has three pillars: nutrition, exercise and sleep. Nutrition and exercise are already well-known, studied and attended to by all types of products and services. But the third pillar, sleep, is equally important and often overlooked. The average American is getting just 6.8 hours per night, down more than an hour from over six decades ago. This deficit recently led the New York Times to call sleep improvement "the simplest way to drastically improve your life.”
We are finally starting to see this message enter the public dialogue. Look no further than the press frenzy over Elon Musk’s sleep health. But Apple knows that better sleep is more than just a trend, more than a market opportunity.
A few years ago, I was like many other entrepreneurs -- plagued by sleepless nights that left me completely drained and defeated. By consciously working to improve my sleep, I drastically improved the quality of my life. I felt fitter, more refreshed and filled with renewed energy. The change made me realize that sleep deserves to be viewed through the same lens as fitness: It is an activity you can train for and master. These insights inspired me to found Eight Sleep, a company devoted to supporting sleep fitness.
Before my breakthrough, I’d thought of sufficient sleep as desirable but not crucial -- a nice-to-have rather than a requirement. In reality, quality sleep is not only essential for overall well-being, but it grants the power to control your own health outcomes while reducing the costs of your own health care -- and not a moment too soon. In 2017, the average American spent $10,739 on health care.
For all these reasons, sleep is already a huge business, and with a company like Apple getting involved, it's certain to continue to grow. Sleep trackers alone are a $1.3 billion market and are projected to expand at a CAGR of 7.6% by 2028. We've seen multiple other companies enter the arena in recent years, including Whoop and Fitbit. The wellness and health care fields seem to be expanding every year; supporting healthy sleep lies at the intersection of both industries. What’s more, prevention is the gold standard of all health care, and better sleep has been scientifically shown, time and time again, to enhance cognitive function, sharpen memory, improve physical and mental health, and boost athletic performance.
Between Beddit and the Apple Watch Series 4, with its built-in ECG and fitness coaching, Apple is clearly bullish on personal health care. It’s also clear that Apple understands what other companies like mine, Withings and more have already realized: The future of sleep lies beyond our wrists. With both wearable and nonwearable tools becoming more commonplace, the transformative benefits of sleep fitness will continue to receive more attention and become more attainable for even the busiest among us.
