Global shipments of smartwatches outpaced those of Swiss watches in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to figures released Thursday by market researcher Strategy Analytics. It's the first time the wearable tech devices have overtaken their luxurious brethren, and much of the credit goes to Apple, which the researcher says dominates the smartwatch marketplace.
While the popularity of smartwatches is growing dramatically, consumer interest in Swiss watches is waning. That's largely due to a reluctance on the part of the Swiss firms to embrace emerging wearable tech, which in addition to telling time lets wearers place calls, send and receive emails, and check their stocks and blood pressure. Swiss shipments declined 5 percent in the quarter compared with the same quarter in 2014, while smartwatch shipments rose 316 percent over the same time.
.
.
.
The Swiss may be able to make up ground in the next couple of years, if they produce more tech-oriented devices that grab the attention of consumers. Smartwatch unit sales are expected to
jump from 30 million last year to 50 million this yearand 66.7 million in 2017, Gartner said in a research note released earlier this month. Much of that growth is due to the Apple Watch, which Gartner credited with "popularizing wearables as a lifestyle trend."
But if Swiss watchmakers want a piece of that action, they're going to have to step up their game. Tag Heuer's Connected Watch features a 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Atom processor and twice the memory featured on other Android Wear watches. However, it lacks features that have become fairly standard on smartwatches, such as GPS to monitor physical activity, or near-field communications (NFC) for making mobile payments.
The clock is ticking, Switzerland.
Click to expand...