Roger Fingas
A number of mobile executives who attended this week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona are already projecting that the Apple Watch will dominate the smartwatch market when it launches in April, much as the iPad currently controls the tablet industry.
The Information's Amir Efrati notes that "almost every" executive he spoke to at MWC was anticipating Apple to assume control of the smartwatch market and keep hold that position for a long time.
"The vertical model is just fundamentally better to introduce new product categories," said one executive with a company making an Android watch.
The comment is a reference to Apple's tightly-integrated and often closed ecosystem. iPhone owners may be more likely to buy an Apple Watch, even if Google does bring Android Wear support to iOS, simply because it's woven into the Apple ecosystem.
This could potentially backfire for Apple, since the Watch market can never grow larger than the pool of iPhone owners, at least with the device's current capabilities. The first-generation Apple Watch relies on iPhone for features like GPS navigation and cellular data transmission
ARM and Qualcomm executives also remarked that the Apple Watch too closely resembles a "gadget," and that many people may prefer devices that resemble conventional watches. Products like the Moto 360 and LG Watch Urbane are consciously designed with round faces, among other traditional touches.
Apple is working hard to overcome any stigmas by marketing the Watch as a fashion accessory, and offering traditional elements where it can. These include a crown dial, a variety of different straps, and gold case options on the most expensive Edition models.
Full details about the product are expected to be announced at a March 9th press event in San Francisco. AppleInsider will be providing live coverage.
Malcolm Owen
Amber Neely
Christine McKee
Chip Loder
Marko Zivkovic
68 Comments
Is there really a smart watch market to dominate? Has anyone ever seen anybody wear a smart watch that is currently on the market? I see a very small number of fit bits, but no watches. Millions of smart phone owners, but none of them wear a smart watch. If there was a market, you would see people wearing them now, from the vendors that sell them. "The first-generation Apple Watch relies on iPhone for features like GPS navigation and cellular data transmission"....and everything else to function. It is a $349 brick without the iPhone. I don't know why people would want a smart watch, from any vendor.
Since the industry sold a total of 57 Android smart watches for the entire fiscal year of 2014, I'd say that the prediction that Apple will dominate smart watches for the forseeable future is a pretty safe prediction to make.
The round faces of Android smart-watches will stigmatize Androidwear for quite a while. They look like ridiculous Kmart Dad Watches. A look that could only appeal to geekiest of geeks. Why anybody would think round was the way to go, I will never know. But I do know that they will be heavily discounted for the holiday season to try and get rid of them. Form follows function. That's the number one rule of design. Not make it look like something it's not because we think so poorly of the intelligence of our consumer.
Here, let me modify this to seem as though it had been said in 2007.
That's how ridiculous the cries for "it haz to b3 round!" are.
The round faces of Android smart-watches will stigmatize Androidwear for quite a while. They look like ridiculous Kmart Dad Watches. A look that could only appeal to geekiest of geeks. Why anybody would think round was the way to go, I will never know. But I do know that they will be heavily discounted for the holiday season to try and get rid of them.
Form follows function. That's the number one rule of design. Not make it look like something it's not because we think so poorly of the intelligence of our consumer.
I think you've got your shapes mixed up.
The rectangular Apple Watch says geeky calculator watch/gadget boy; the round watch says traditional elegant.
Note that whenever Apple portrays a skeuomorphic analogue watch face, it chooses a round one. I rest my case.