As smartphone sales show signs of slowing down, for many technology companies, wearables, particularly smartwatches, seem to be the next growth market. Tech giants like Apple, Google, Samsung are hedging big bets on wearables. Apple’s Watch, which was launched back in April, has made the company the second biggest wearable company in the world. But consumers tell a different story. They aren’t convinced. They don’t find smartwatches useful enough.
For analysts who have been watching the market, it is a case of the software moving much faster than the hardware.
It is also a question of integration. “It is not only the battery life of the smartwatch that needs to improve, but also the phone, to which it connects,” says Sanchit Vir Gogia, CEO and chief analyst, Greyhound Research.
Gogia feels as the category develops with economies of scale and for the smartwatches it is yet to happen. However, he says, with spare parts coming in from China, the smartwatches will also become more affordable and that would help them.
Gogia adds that the smartwatch category is not fully fleshed out. “Every second generation product takes into account user feedback and there are improvements to the overall product,” he says.