Neil Hughes
Rather than hurting sales of the Pebble smartwatch, the debut of the Apple Watch has actually helped the company, its CEO has revealed, thanks to increased consumer awareness of wearable devices.
Rather than hurting Pebble, the Apple Watch appears to have boosted the wearables space, Pebble CEO Eric Migicovsky said in an interview with CNBC. He revealed that his company is selling twice the amount of smartwatches than it was at this same point last year.
"We've actually seen no material impact from Apple entering the space on our sales," Migicovsky said.
His comments are similar to those from Fitbit earlier this week, when officials from company also said they had seen no "material impact" on sales of their devices thanks to the debut of the Apple Watch. Like Migicovsky and Pebble, Fitbit executives believe their products target a different consumer.
While Fitbit's products are focused on an active lifestyle, Pebble is positioned as a low-end, affordable, and "fun" smartwatch. Migicovsky said that if Apple wants to be Rolex or Tag Heuer, Pebble is content to be the equivalent of Swatch in the smartwatch space.
This year, Pebble expanded its lineup with a new round model that starts at $250 — Â $100 cheaper than the base Apple Watch Sport. The company also debuted the $199 Pebble Time, and a $299 steel version of the square-faced model.
Prior to Apple's entry, the wearable devices market was small. Earlier this year, estimates pegged total 2014 smartwatch sales at just 6.8 million units, with an average selling price of $189.
Citing competitive reasons, Apple has declined to reveal specific sales figures for the Apple Watch. But financial data disclosed by the company reveals that total revenue from the device topped $1.7 billion in its first five months of availability.
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
33 Comments
1) I can't help but think of Blackberry's sales skyrocketing after the iPhone brought awareness to the smartphone market. I hope Pebble has something better up its sleeve than just their eInk, ePaper, eWhatever displays, or I think the longterm for Pebble will share the same fate as Blackberry's smartphone market. 2) I'll go for usability over looks any day, but damn those look fugly to me. Why so much bezel on a device you're support to interact with and get written text from?
Yes, we've seen this story arc before.
1) I can't help but think of Blackberry's sales skyrocketing after the iPhone brought awareness to the smartphone market. I hope Pebble has something better up its sleeve than just their eInk, ePaper, eWhatever displays, or I think the longterm for Pebble will share the same fate as Blackberry's smartphone market.
2) I'll go for usability over looks any day, but damn those look fugly to me. Why so much bezel on a device you're support to interact with and get written text from?
I have the original Pebble Steel, and I have found it to be very functional, if not especially elegant. I'd much rather have an Apple Watch though, both for looks and functionality, but unfortunately I would be unable to wear it to work. So - waiting for enlightenment to bridge the gap between security and technology, or maybe just for the 2nd generation version.
Pebble and Apple aren't competing for the same market, judging by the price difference. There's room for both in the market, just as there's room for both Android and iOS.
Pebble are full of sht. Apple have no interest in the cheap segment where those low end products like Pebble, Fibit and bunch of other cheapos compete. Show the sale number of those above $200 and let's talk. Again, smart watch market will move in the same direction as smartphone where bunch of cheap watches race to the bottom while Apple dominate the premium segment which has highest margin. Pebble didn't realize that they survive because Apple let them. I don't know where would Pebble be now if Apple watch was priced at $249 with less capabilities than the one now. Maybe Pebbe can only sell $50/pc plasticky junks.