With the emergence of smart watches, this should be the hottest category right? However according to a recent survey, about 33% of smart watch wearers have reported to have abandoned their smart wearable devices after 6 months.
In the wearable space for the UK, smart watches only take up 11% market share, while dedicated health/fitness monitors take up 39%. Even GoPro is having a better time with 24% market share. Some of the major factors slowing down smart watch adoption is the price and the loss of interest over time. According to the report, a number of smart watch owners have either gotten them for free or comes bundled for cheap when purchased with a smart phone. It might look cool but when the novelty disappears, a number of them don’t really find the need of using such gadgets in the long run.
According to Pebble’s CEO, Eric Micigovsky, the risk of losing interest by smart wearable owners is an on-going problem. The Pebble Smart Watch which now has sold over 400,000 units had started off as a basic notification tool on your wrist with interchangeable watch faces. Now it has evolved with more apps and functionality including an always-on fitness tracker which was added with the latest update.
Despite this, brands are still cashing in on the smart wearable segment and we’ve seen more players supporting Android Wear and even Apple has introduced its own watch that would go on sale next year. From the looks of it, these new smart watches won’t be cheap which makes it very expensive especially after spending a lot on a flagship phone.
While the Pebble smart watch isn’t as feature packed as recent releases, it is still quite practical with its 5-7 days battery life and an even lower price of US$99 (about RM325). Meanwhile Samsung is exploring beyond the standard watches and they recently introduced the Gear S (priced at RM1,099) that works standalone with its own 3G slot.
Do you think the smart watch is just a fad or a companion that’s actually useful? If you’ve bought a smart watch, are you still using them? Leave your comments below.
