(NYT) – Google, Apple, Samsung and upstarts like Oura are racing to integrate data from their wearable devices into the health care system.

Since the release of the pioneering Fitbit Tracker in 2009, consumer interest has powered the category. But what has caught the attention of venture capital firms and some of the biggest companies in the world — including Apple, Samsung, and Google (which paid $2.1 billion for Fitbit in 2021) — is a vision that could be even more profitable.

“The end goal is to be part of the medical ecosystem,” said Jitesh Ubrani, an industry analyst with IDC, a technology research company. “It’s a very lucrative market to be in if every hospital and doctor recommends one of these devices.”

That long game also partly explains why the knives are out…(Read More)