According to US analysts, Apple could offer health insurance in 2024, based on health data collected by its connected watches Apple Watch. Fantasy or reality?
As we know, the field of health is of great interest to the digital giants – the famous GAFAM. From a strictly economic point of view, the market is enormous – the Covid pandemic has demonstrated this once again… – and it has every chance of growing further with the aging of the population and the proliferation of certain diseases. In this strategic sector, a few leading technology companies could quickly develop new services by exploiting unsuspected resources. This is particularly the case of Apple which, according to the American study and forecasting firm CSC Insight could offer health insurance from 2024. An astonishing prediction, because this service would come out of the usual framework of the activities of the firm at the apple, but which makes sense when you know that the Cupertino company collects a colossal amount of data from health thanks to its Apple Watch…
Apple Watch: an ideal tool for collecting health data
In fact, since the launch of its first connected watch in 2015, Apple has continued to add sensors and health monitoring functions to its Apple Watches: pulse, blood pressure, blood oxygen level, temperature body… so much valuable data for users – and not just athletes! – who can thus have an accurate and reliable assessment of their state of health in real time. Not to mention the electrocardiogram and other sophisticated functions which in principle require a medical examination by a specialist. And, according to CSC Insight analystsit is precisely this wealth of sensitive information that Apple could exploit to enter the health insurance market.
Experts point out that Apple could get closer to a major insurer by 2024. “Apple has a wealth of personal health data from Apple Watches. By linking all of this information, they can become a very competitive player in health insurance”, explains Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight. Therefore, a question arises: was the Apple Watch launched on the market for this purpose? Ben Wood doesn’t think so: “I don’t think it was a Trojan horse to get into this: I just think it’s a natural evolution. All of a sudden they look at the data they have and wonder if should they enter the health industry?” However, he notices that “Tim Cook steered Watch into the health and fitness space, and they hit an area that just resonated with consumers”.
Medical data: a wealth of sensitive information for a new market
Of course, as usual, Apple did not comment on the analysts’ assumptions, the firm at the apple maintaining an almost military secrecy on all its projects. But this prediction makes sense. And this possibility is part of a greater purpose: to change the percentage of Apple’s revenue share from software and services. In 2022, they represent a quarter of Cupertino’s turnover, compared to a third by 2030, according to projections by CSC Insight analysts. Apple has long since gone beyond being a manufacturer – of computers and electronic devices – and a software publisher to offer numerous services in music, video, the sale of applications, online storage and fitness. And, after banking activities – in the United States – why not imagine a parallel foray into the field of insurance?
The real question raised by this eventuality lies in the confidentiality of medical data, which are eminently sensitive and personal, and, above all, their commodification. Not sure that, if the concept materializes, it will reach Euripe and therefore France, in particular with the forthcoming implementation of the DSA (Digital Service Act) that the European Union is preparing to protect consumers’ private information (see our article). The future will tell us what the GAFAM intend to do with the precious data they have accumulated through their wonderful digital products and services…