According to a new report from information and analytics provider IHS (News - Alert) entitled “The World Market for Sports & Fitness Monitors—2013 Edition,” global installations of sports and fitness apps are set to rise by 63 percent from 2012 to 2017. In 2012, there were roughly 156 million installations of fitness and sports apps. It is predicted that figure will grow to 248 million in 2017.

IHS’s predictions, however, note that growth will slow down in the coming years. In 2012, installations increased by 40 percent, while this year they are only up 15 percent. IHS expects it to slow down even more with only a 10 percent increase predicted for 2014.

“Sports and fitness apps have become an integral part in the daily lives of millions of mobile users, allowing them to use their smartphones to do everything from tracking running distances, to recording their strength training sessions, to monitoring their heart rates,” said Shane Walker, senior manager for consumer and digital health research at IHS. “An IHS consumer survey revealed that 62 percent of respondents interested in using sports and fitness apps also were prepared to purchase hardware that enhances the functionality of the software. For makers of sports and fitness sensors and monitoring and devices like HRMs, this means a built-in audience exists for products that can work with fitness apps.”

The IHS report showed that the majority of users of these kinds of apps were particularly interested in tracking distances and calories burned. It also revealed that, despite the multitude of niche apps on the market, 83 percent of respondents were interested in the integration of multiple activities into a single app.

Expect the market for fitness and sports apps to increase especially as wearable tech becomes more popular. While plenty of armbands and similar accessories exist to have your smartphone on you while you run and engage in other physical activity, it is still relatively bulky. As smartwatches become more popular, it isn’t hard to imagine that the smaller, more portable device will have its own market of fitness apps.