Rope counter is a digital circuit, associated with skipping rope, which is a fitness equipment used for physical exercise to manage overall weight, improve physical stamina, and develop muscular strength. This rope counter is used to measure the heart rate, amount of fat burn while doing exercise, and improving bone density, and others, which in turn helps in maintaining the overall health and fitness of the body.
Rising awareness among people related to health and fitness is one of the major driving factors for growth of the global rope counter market. This is attributed to increasing obesity, which demands for fitness equipment. For instance, in 2013, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation analysis, nearly 30% of the world population were either suffering from obesity or overweight, globally. Thus, increasing obesity worldwide leads to high risk of diseases such as diabetes, asthma, and heart attack. For instance, according to the diabetics.org, the total number of people in the U.S. suffering from diabetics was 7.2 million in 2014, and in 2015, 1.5 million new cases were reported which was 6.7% per 1,000 persons. According to World Health Organisation (WHO), in 2015, diabetes was the direct cause of 1.6 million deaths and in 2012, high blood glucose was the cause of another 2.2 million deaths, globally. Therefore, in order to reduce risk associated with obesity, demand for advanced fitness equipment is increasing significantly. Rope counter is a digital circuit that helps in monitoring blood sugar level, blood pressure level, heart rate, sleep patterns, skin temperature, and others generating results in a few seconds. Hence, advancement in technology, which in turn helps in innovating the existing fitness equipment or devices will help in boosting growth of the global rope counter market.
Furthermore, growing government initiative programs related to health awareness is another factor propelling growth of the market. For instance, in May 2004, in the 57th World Health Assembly (WHA) endorsed the World Health Organization's (WHO), Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity, and Health. The aim of this strategy is to promote and protect health by guiding at each individual, community, national, and global level such that it helps in reducing disease and death rates related to unhealthy diet and physical inactivity. Growing awareness among people will inadvertently increase demand for advanced fitness equipment that is expected to help people in reducing risk related to overweight or obesity disease. Hence, all these factors will help in propelling growth of the market.
On the basis of end users, the health club/GYMs segment accounted for the largest market share in 2017 and expected to retain its dominance during the forecasted period. The major factor attributing to growth of this segment is increasing number of health club/GYMs memberships. For instance, according to International Health, Racquet & Sports club Association (IHRSA), in the U.S., the total number of people registered in health club were 60.9 million in 2016 and it has grown up to 70 million in 2017. Therefore, increasing inclination of people towards health club or gym, in order to maintain fitness, is expected to be major factor for growth of the segment in the global rope counter market over the forecast period.
The high price of rope counter is a major factor that limits growth of the market. This pushed start-up gyms & fitness centres and in-house users to buy second-hand equipment. Therefore, high prices of rope counter is a major factor hampering purchase of new for commercial purpose, which negatively affected sales of new rope counter equipment.
North America held a dominant position in the global rope counter market in 2017, and is expected to retain its dominance throughout the forecast period (2018–2026). This growth is attributed to increasing number of health issue related to obesity such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and others, which directly affects adults, youth, and children. For instance, according to the National Centre for Health's analysis, in 2017, in the U.S. 40% of adults and 19% of youths were suffering from obesity. Therefore, rising awareness among people towards health and fitness is reflected in rapid growth in demand for advanced fitness equipment and gym memberships. This is further expected to drive growth of the market in this particular region.
Key players operating in the global rope counter market are Spokey sp. z o. o, Domyos Corporation, LimitZero, Decalton Honkong, Reebok, Inc., John LewisPlc, S&T Welcare Equipment Ltd, Unitech Sports & Fitness Ltd., and Blue Corpus Solutions.