The Asia Pacific region will generate more than $7 billion in revenues from mHealth services in 2017, according to a new study by the GSM Association (GSMA) and PricewaterhouseCoopers. The majority of that revenue will come from telemonitoring services, which the report estimates will make up about 55 percent of the market, followed by diagnostic services, which will make up 24 percent.

The report, "Mobile Health – Enabling Healthcare", puts the current Asian mHealth market at under $500 million. But increased demand for effective healthcare in large countries like China will accelerate growth at a 70 percent CAGR each year to 2017. Within Asia Pacific countries,  China will become the largest user of mHealth services by 2017 with $2.4 billion of the total revenue, followed by Japan ($1.3 billion), and India ($540 million). Japan will be first place in Asia for remote patient monitoring services (63 percent) because of its large elderly population, and India will be first in diagnostics (67 percent) because of its large amount of rural areas.

"Mobile health is a prime example of how mobile operators can leverage existing platforms and technology to provide innovative services to connect people throughout Asia Pacific," stated Michael O'Hara, Chief Marketing Officer, GSMA, in a press release. "Asia Pacific's predicted growth in connected devices, through an array of applications, means that the region is on the threshold of radically transforming the lives of its consumers, professionally and personally."

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The full report will be available this December.

Read the press release below.

PRESS RELEASE -- Mobile Health Market Stimulating Growth of Connected Devices

Growth of mobile health services in Asia Pacific is stimulating demand for connected devices and making the Connected Life a reality. In a separate study, new figures from the GSMA, developed in collaboration with PwC for a global report entitled 'Mobile Health – Enabling Healthcare'(5), indicates that the Asia Pacific mobile health market will grow to almost US$7 billion in 2017 at a CAGR of approximately 70 per cent. The mobile health services representing the largest opportunity across the region include monitoring services, with a 55 per cent market share in 2017 and diagnostic services, with a 24 per cent market share.

China will have the biggest mobile health market in 2017, driven by growth in monitoring and diagnosis that will facilitate the delivery of effective healthcare to a widely spread population who have poor health access. This will help to create a market opportunity of US$2.4 billion in China, dwarfing the next largest markets, Japan (US$1.3 billion) and India (US$540 million). Monitoring represents the biggest opportunity in Japan (63 per cent market share) due to the large number of elderly, and in India diagnostics will create the biggest opportunity (67 per cent market share) due to most Indians living in rural areas.

"Mobile health is a prime example of how mobile operators can leverage existing platforms and technology to provide innovative services to connect people throughout Asia Pacific," continued O'Hara. "Asia Pacific's predicted growth in connected devices, through an array of applications, means that the region is on the threshold of radically transforming the lives of its consumers, professionally and personally. To make the Connected Life ubiquitous, it's vital that the mobile industry works with key adjacent industries in the region, including healthcare."

The Connected Life opportunity is by no means confined to healthcare. The close collaboration of mobile operators with companies in a range of vertical sectors, such as automotive, utilities and consumer electronics, will provide compelling new 'connected' services to consumers and businesses all over the world. The benefit of this is huge, as the Connected Life will create new opportunities for companies to engage with existing customers while adopting new ones, as well as deliver new service opportunities that will generate additional revenue.

For more information on the GSMA's Connected Life programme, please visit: www.gsmaconnectedlife.com.

(5)Mobile Health – Enabling Healthcare is a global study on the potential of mobile health services and solutions up to 2017 by the GSMA and PwC. It will be available, in full, in December 2011.

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world's mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Congress.

For more information, please visit Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com or the GSMA corporate website at www.gsmworld.com.