VDC Research Blog




Consumer Wearables Features Approaching Requirements for Full FDA Approval

by Brendan Bradley | 4/23/2023

Manufacturers of DTC wearables have begun to seek blended device approval, gaining FDA clearance for certain features within their devices without going through the lengthier process of seeking complete clearance or approval of the entire device. Whether or not a consumer wearable requires any level of FDA regulation depends on its intended use. General wellness products, such as step counters or fitness trackers, are outside the scope of FDA regulation. However, when devices begin to make claims of diagnosing, monitoring, or treating medical conditions, they fall under the definition of a medical device. Learn more

Emerson (Finally) Acquires NI

by Jared Weiner | 4/23/2023

Emerson (NYSE: EMR) announced last week that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire NI (NASDAQ: NATI) for approximately $8.2 billion, reportedly outbidding Fortive and Keysight Technologies, among others. Emerson expects the acqusition to close during the first half of its 2024 fiscal year, which begins in October 2023. Learn more

Regulatory Barriers Facing Medical Device Manufacturers

by Brendan Bradley | 4/14/2023

Manufacturers of medical devices face a plethora of regulatory standards from multiple entities and agencies. ISO 13485, IEC 62304, and UL 2900 are just some of the international standards that regulate all levels of the medical device supply chain, addressing key requirements such as quality and risk. While the FDA previously relied upon suggested best practices for the cybersecurity of medical devices in the form of guidelines, the agency has recently taken a far more proactive approach to regulation. Learn more

Delivery Robots Help Alleviate Frontline Worker Pressures

by Emily Gove | 4/11/2023

Frontline labor challenges have persisted in 2023, and industries like transportation, deliveries, logistics, food service, and manufacturing continue to face record turnovers. Enterprises have adopted a multitude of strategies to expedite training, retain workers, and increase a sense of value as job satisfaction drops. While some companies are considering semi and full automation of their operations, others are seeking out ways to retain their workers while identifying, isolating, and eliminating less-popular tasks. Learn more

RISC-V’s Rapid Ascent in Embedded Systems

by Carter Ramsey & Dan Mandell | 3/28/2023

Originally developed as a research project at UC Berkeley in 2010, the RISC-V ISA has since sparked a considerable amount of interest and use in captive and merchant/commercial processing applications. In 2015, the non-profit RISC-V Foundation was created to establish an open-source development network for this new ISA. Developers across the world expressed their interests in the RISC-V platform, which eventually sparked the incorporation of the RISC-V Foundation in Switzerland in March 2020, which is now called RISC-V International today. Learn more

Embedded World 2023: VDC’s “Embeddy” Award Winners

by Dan Mandell & Chris Rommel | 3/28/2023

Last week, VDC Research attended the Embedded World 2023 conference in Nuremberg, Germany and held dozens of face-to-face meetings with exhibitors. Following a barren 2020 and relatively muted attendance last year, Embedded World 2023 was a clear indication that this industry is a small step away from back to normal conference and tradeshow attendance and activities. The halls were packed and bustling like times of old, with everyone sharing a sense of relief and rejuvenated appreciation for in-person events, meetings, and connections. Learn more

Embedded Technology Helps Sports Organizations Optimize Performance

by Brendan Bradley | 3/17/2023

Athletic organizations across the world have begun to view IoT devices and the data they can glean from them as an important factor in optimizing player performance, mitigating injuries, and increasing fan engagement. Learn more

Independent Recommerce Models Help Sellers Mitigate Returns Losses

by Emily Gove | 3/9/2023

With the growing ease of online ordering, try-at-home models, and lenient refund policies, the modern consumer is no stranger to product returns. The National Retail Federation (NRF) estimates that over 16% of online and in-store purchases were returned in 2022, down from 20% in 2021. Returns are a major drain on retail and ecommerce profits, and the reverse logistics of returns can be messy. Learn more

Artificial Intelligence & the Metaverse in the Enterprise: An Introduction of ChatGPT

by Rowan Litter | 3/7/2023

The recent emergence of ChatGPT, an AI-based language model, has caused a stir in both the consumer and enterprise world with the chatbot’s ability to provide detailed and articulate responses across a variety of knowledge topics. Developed by OpenAI, ChatGPT was released in late 2022 and can not only mimic human conversations, but write and debug computer code, compose stories, and answer test questions at a level above average human test-takers. Learn more

MWC 2023: Satellite IoT & eSIMs

by Steve Hoffenberg | 3/6/2023

VDC’s IoT staff was back in Barcelona for MWC for the first time since 2019. This year’s attendance continued to rebound from the COVID pandemic, and was 88,500 participants, compared to 61,000 in 2022, after the 2019 peak of nearly 109,500. Learn more