Are smart watches the first wave of a larger trend?
Before this year, smart watches were associated more with the fictive world of Dick Tracy than the mainstream consumer market.
Samsung Galaxy
Now Sony, Samsung and Qualcomm all have first-generation smart watches in stores. Apple, Google, LG and almost every other technology company on the planet are likewise rumoured to have their own version of the latest “it” gadget in the works.
But is there any real consumer demand for high-tech watches? Analysts are split on the device’s traction, as well as its future potential. On the low end, the technology research firm IHS expects 268,000 smart watches to ship globally this year, barely 5% of the five million forecasted by both Gartner and NextMarket.
Growth predictions are also very different, ranging from IHS’ estimate of seven million smart watches to ship in 2014 to NextMarket’s projection of 15 million. Whatever the final tally is, next year will undoubtedly see a huge push from tech brands trying to sell consumers on the idea.
Pebble
Interest in the market began in April 2012 when the startup Pebble raised $10 million to launch a smart watch.
Today all the tech giants have skin in the game, though it’s a little unclear who is where on the playing field. So too is it unclear where smart watches fit into the ad world. Though the devices are currently ad free, it’s only a matter of time before enterprising marketers begin debating the best way to serve ads for the wrist.
As brands pile onto the smart watch wagon, each will also have to differentiate its offering in some way. Samsung, for one, has worked to position Galaxy Gear as a lifestyle item for the fashion-oriented consumer. At last month’s launch event, the guest list included influencers from the fashion industry rather than the tech world, including Kirk Pickersgill of the Toronto label Greta Constantine, designer Amanda Lew Kee, fashion publicist Gail McInnes and front row fixture Fritz Helder of the band Azari & III (he also served as the event’s DJ).
Qualcomm
Samsung also enlisted a stylist to create four outfits inspired by the watch and displayed them on mannequins, and took gossip columnist Shinan Govani and several other fashion types to Holt Renfrew to be styled in looks to be worn with the watch.
For now, Ken Price, Samsung Canada’s director of marketing for mobile, says the company is marketing the watch as a fashionable companion piece for its line of smartphones. In time, he believes smart watches and other technology-fashion hybrids could be much bigger business.
“This is one of those great moments in time in high-tech where you have some intuition and some facts,” says Price. “The reality is that we don’t know how big the market could be.”
Price says the market for “wearables”— tech-enabled products that consumers wear, such as smart watches, Google Glass and Nike FuelBand—is still in its infancy and that it will take “a couple of years” before the market shows which products are niche and which are mainstream.
With the second iteration of Galaxy Gear already in the works, Samsung clearly believes there’s value in being one of the first big brands to join the fray. Price says the company may also come up with new concepts that have more potential than smart watches.
“When you talk about wearables, there’s a lot of products that could be, and we’ve only seen a couple ideas so far,” he says.
Which brand made the smartest smart watch play? For more on wearable tech, pick up the Nov. 11 issue of Marketing. Subscribe today, and check out our iPad edition.
