In 2013, the claim to first ever smartwatch to capture the full capability of a smartphone was laid by startup Omate with the TrueSmart. The TrueSmart originated from a Kickstarter campaign which raised over 1 million dollars. Many different smartwatches have been launched in recent years, with different operating systems and a broad range of functions.
Now, more than three years later and several generations further. What has actually become of the smartwatch? Is it a fitness tracker, an ornament or a small computer. Is it a device with a clear and limited function like a an e-reader, or is it a device that can do everything, like a smartphone.
In the past years many concepts have been tested. It is clear that the smartwatch is not the new smartphone and in sales will never reach the sales of tablets. It is a niche product. It’s a market what is still rapidly evolving and after three years still not knows in which direction it should go.
Apple tried to sell The Watch as an ornament for around 10.000 euro. It failed miserably. At the presentation of the Watch Series 2 the focus went fully to sport. The two major smartwatch brands Apple and Samsung are using the key words like sport, health and fitness to sell their devices but that is by definition a niche market. Besides, many brands already have fitness trackers with smartwatch functions in their assortment. In addition, not everyone has room for a smartwatch on their wrist, people who like an analog watch that finds them much more attractive than a smartwatch.
Don’t get me wrong, the smartwatch is a beautiful device but no one really knows for what reason the smartwatch is here and which problem it has to solve. Let’s hope developers will find the reason in the future.
Sources:
https://www.wareable.com/smartwatches/smartwatch-timeline-history-watches
http://uk.businessinsider.com/david-singleton-android-wear-google-smartwatches-future-interview-2016-3?international=true&r=UK&IR=T
https://tweakers.net/reviews/4745/identiteitscrisis-op-de-smartwatchmarkt.html
http://www.ispo.com/en/trends/id_76989966/the-upcoming-smartwatch-boom-they-are-the-future.html
Dear Alexander, interesting post about smartwatches. I agree with you that the smartwatch market still doesn’t really know in which direction to go. It looks like developers are trying to make the smartwatch a small version of your smartphone. In my opinion not the right purpose of a smartwatch. Developers should embrace technologies that handle real-time information. So depending on what you’re doing, the smartwatch will give relevant information on which you could simply act without taking your smartphone from your pocket. Technologies like GPS, NFC and Bluetooth Low Energy make it possible to use your smartwatch as a paying device, a way to check in and out to public transport, as the key to your home, or as information device where you can see arrival times of train and bus. If developers act on these great opportunities, the smartwatch will become part of our daily business in the future.
Thanks for your post! I totally agree with your point, the smartwatch is a beautiful product but no one really knows why we have to use the smartwatch and which problem it will solve. I think that 2015, ‘the year of the smartwatch’, has finished with a whimper, and I will explain why.
Almost one and a half years has gone by, filled with all different types of smartwatches. Apple makes them, Google’s software powers them (CNN.com, 2015). Sony, Asus, Samsung, Motorola, etc. All these company’s want to put a high-tech thing on your wrist. But, as you already mentioned, there is only one problem: none of the smartwatches feel necessary, or even necessarily desirable. The smartwatch is intriguing, sometimes useful, and sometimes cool. But the advantages come with drawbacks, again and again. The ‘wow’ effect of the watch is missing. The consequence is that the smartwatch won’t be the thing we can’t live without in a couple of years, like smartphones. I think that is the biggest problem for now.
Of course, the watches have some great features, and some of them are performing really well. They are interesting to use, an intriguing product, but also a somewhat boring product. It is just a watch with the same functions as an iPhone more or less in my opinion. Besides that, there is not really a distinction between the different types of smartwatches, all the watches have begun to blend together and offer increasingly similar features (Cnet.com, 2015). Additionally, I think the smartwatch can still improve in many areas. The watches need better batteries, and they need to keep looking better. When the design is getting more attractive, more people will use it due to the fact that it will become a genuine piece of jewelry (BusinessInsider, 2016). Secondly, they need to do more, and do it more intuitively. The smartwatch has to function well on his own, and need to connect to more things beyond the phone.
As long as these criteria will not change, the smartwatch won’t be popular enough in today’s society. For now, the smartwatch is a really cool product, but the reasons and convictions to use the watches are missing. It lacks persuasiveness.