The threat of smartwatches is now great enough that even the most stoic of timepiece manufacturers are having to pay attention. This week, yet another big name, Swatch, has said it is throwing its hat into the smartwatch ring, and says to expect a Swatch smartwatch in the very near future.
“Swatch will launch a new generation of its smart Swatch in the next two to three months,” said Swatch CEO Nick Hayek.
While premium watch makers like Tag Heuer and Fossil probably don’t have too much to worry about their bottom line being affected, mid and entry-level watch makers like Swatch need to adapt to the changing watch landscape. So much so that it’s been estimated that Swatch could have its sales slowed by up to 10% with the onslaught of smartwatches, and other mid-level manufacturers like Tissot and Mido could take a cut of 5% in sales. And it’s not the Android Wear smartwatches that have kicked Swatch into action – it’s the threat of the Apple Watch that everyone is now wary of.
That said, Swatch, and likely many other watch makers planning to make a smartwatch, will make their smartwatch compatible with multiple platforms including Android and Windows, and presumably iOS too. We’ll have to see what kind of operating system they adopt, and we shouldn’t have too long to wait before we get more details.
What do you think of a Swatch smartwatch? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Wall Street Journal via TalkAndroid
