"Smart Watches" - when will someone like AP or PP step in?
Discussion
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-31442448
I wouldn't give up what I usually wear on my wrist for any of the smartwatches on sale, but if this does take off (and it might!), do you think any of the "proper" watch brands will take it on?
I'm thinking of something like a Reverso with the traditional face on the front and the Star Trek stuff on the back. Ha! Edited to add that someone has come up with a concept already.
|http://thumbsnap.com/ypKudh1X[/url]
I wouldn't give up what I usually wear on my wrist for any of the smartwatches on sale, but if this does take off (and it might!), do you think any of the "proper" watch brands will take it on?
I'm thinking of something like a Reverso with the traditional face on the front and the Star Trek stuff on the back. Ha! Edited to add that someone has come up with a concept already.
|http://thumbsnap.com/ypKudh1X[/url]Edited by AdvocatusD on Tuesday 24th February 15:44
AdvocatusD said:
but if this does take off (and it might!)
Pebble have opened the Kickstarter project for their new watch today and currently have >8000 backers with $1.5m raised.I think it's safe to say it's taken off
Traditional watch makers will be wary of this market IMO. Ever since digital watches took the lead in "telling the time" they have not been utility items where you were paying big money to get the most accurate watch - all the accuracy you need is in a £20 Casio.
There's the question of depreciation too. Consider cameras. A twenty year old film camera body is still worth a certain amount of money, because the film is still the same, and the lens is still the same. A twenty year old digital camera is a doorstop - at best a novelty item. The same will likely be the case with smartwatches, and for brands that pride themselves on exclusivity, their brands being sold at car boot sales for £20 is a problem.
There's the question of depreciation too. Consider cameras. A twenty year old film camera body is still worth a certain amount of money, because the film is still the same, and the lens is still the same. A twenty year old digital camera is a doorstop - at best a novelty item. The same will likely be the case with smartwatches, and for brands that pride themselves on exclusivity, their brands being sold at car boot sales for £20 is a problem.
Smart watches make sense if they're cheap. An Apple Watch might not be my taste, but for $350 or whatever, would be fine for a couple of years until it's obsolete because the connection protocol isn't supported anymore and the hardware is too slow to run the most up-to-date OS and the battery doesn't hold a charge for an entire day. But the Sport model is going to cost way more - thoughts are $5000 for the rose gold model. $5k for a watch that will last for decades? Sure. For one that won't be any use by 2020? You must be mad.
I think it's more likely that a new 'boutique' company will emerge that makes smart watches in the higher price brackets.
Form what I read companies like Rolex et al. take care over the residuals of their product, I can't imagine them selling something that becomes obsolete in a year or two. High end watches are basically functional jewellery and jewellery doesn't ever seem to become 'obsolete' as such.
I wonder more about whether high end watch makers will survive, the vast majority of my friends (I'm 23) don't wear a watch and if the make a lot of money they still aren't going to want one. A smart watch on the other hand, they will want that.
Form what I read companies like Rolex et al. take care over the residuals of their product, I can't imagine them selling something that becomes obsolete in a year or two. High end watches are basically functional jewellery and jewellery doesn't ever seem to become 'obsolete' as such.
I wonder more about whether high end watch makers will survive, the vast majority of my friends (I'm 23) don't wear a watch and if the make a lot of money they still aren't going to want one. A smart watch on the other hand, they will want that.
leglessAlex said:
I think it's more likely that a new 'boutique' company will emerge that makes smart watches in the higher price brackets.
Form what I read companies like Rolex et al. take care over the residuals of their product, I can't imagine them selling something that becomes obsolete in a year or two. High end watches are basically functional jewellery and jewellery doesn't ever seem to become 'obsolete' as such.
I wonder more about whether high end watch makers will survive, the vast majority of my friends (I'm 23) don't wear a watch and if the make a lot of money they still aren't going to want one. A smart watch on the other hand, they will want that.
I think it's possible that proper watches may go the way of the turntable and become a niche item. Smart watches will take over quite quickly because, as above, nobody needs one to tell the time anymore but phones are too big to whip out of your pocket quickly.Form what I read companies like Rolex et al. take care over the residuals of their product, I can't imagine them selling something that becomes obsolete in a year or two. High end watches are basically functional jewellery and jewellery doesn't ever seem to become 'obsolete' as such.
I wonder more about whether high end watch makers will survive, the vast majority of my friends (I'm 23) don't wear a watch and if the make a lot of money they still aren't going to want one. A smart watch on the other hand, they will want that.
High end watches, just like Sondeks etc, will survive but in a smaller market.
I'd love to be wrong
Most of the people I know who work in the IT Industry, where you would expect there to be a high take-up of smart watches, use traditional watches, with hands, that only tell the time.
They will over-complicate every other aspect of their lives, with smart thermostats on their heating, smart home cinema systems, smart lighting etc, but they will have a straightforward, simple watch.
They will over-complicate every other aspect of their lives, with smart thermostats on their heating, smart home cinema systems, smart lighting etc, but they will have a straightforward, simple watch.
I think the Apple Watch will be a big hit and I might get one myself but I expect the sport to be the most popular model because of the price. Aprox £250 and the fitness and health data that it provides. Most of my friends wear a Fit Bit and the Apple watch is really just a better version of it
I can see a company (new or existing) meeting a need at the higher end - like Vertu did for mobile phones.
http://www.vertu.com/gb/en/home
http://www.vertu.com/gb/en/home
Dr JonboyG said:
(re: Apple Watch) But the Sport model is going to cost way more - thoughts are $5000 for the rose gold model. $5k for a watch that will last for decades? Sure. For one that won't be any use by 2020? You must be mad.
At the very least, I've seen estimates at much higher than that.There is a very substantial market of people who can afford to spend that on a whim without a care in the world about the retained value in a couple of years time. There are plenty of people buying expensive conventional watches like that, and high fashion items (clothing, shoes, bags) that have an even shorter expected life. It'll be a drop in the ocean next to expenditure on other things.
DUMBO100 said:
I think the Apple Watch will be a big hit and I might get one myself but I expect the sport to be the most popular model because of the price. Aprox £250 and the fitness and health data that it provides. Most of my friends wear a Fit Bit and the Apple watch is really just a better version of it
Might be wrong, but I'd heard that Apple were dropping the health monitoring... yep, a quick use of the Google meta-brain agrees with me. It's just heart-rate monitoring now after all the other sensors turned out so inaccurate as to be snake-oil.http://www.ablogtowatch.com/mmt-horological-smartw...
Interesting article discussing exactly this - with a very handsome looking proposition!
Interesting article discussing exactly this - with a very handsome looking proposition!
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