Of course Swatch can’t stand its sales drop so heftily, especially because of watches that are so ugly like many of the smartwatches on the market today. That’s what Swatch is probably thinking, so the company decided that they should enter the smartwatch market, hopefully to bring something stylish to the field.
Swatch has declared that 2015 will bring a new Swatch line to fans, with much more smart integrated into wristwatches. The company wants to create its own models without entering any partnership with companies that already have the tech at hand such as Apple or Samsung. Rumors had been going around about a deal between Apple and Swatch before, but with their newest declarations, Swatch has most certainly dropped the idea.
“All the big technology firms want to work with us and I don’t rule out that we are or could be collaborating in some areas. But we can also do many things on our own.” – is what Swatch chief Nick Hayek declared, so we are sure that something new from the company will be coming our way. Considering Swatch’s track record of stylish and high quality watches, Swatch will surely innovate in the field of smartwatches, we just don’t know how yet.
Rumors are various regarding the plans of Swatch for the smartwatch market, some saying that a new release will appear sometime in Spring 2015, others pushing that date back to Summer of 2015. The new Swatch Touch is supposedly in the works, with touchscreen features and different sensors to monitor health metrics. The company says that it will implement new original technologies in the new smarwatch line, putting Bluetooth to good use in its devices as well.
Swatch has a well-established list of brands, including its colourful Swatch watches, sporty Tissot and Longines, elegant Omega and hand-decorated Breguet timepieces. The company has worked in the field of technology before, manufacturing microchips, displays and batteries, mostly for third-parties, but it is modest about its endeavors. Nonetheless, that makes them fully capable of creating a Swatch smartwatch that will not only be appreciated for the technology it packs, but for the style and quality of the watch itself.
Since Swatch’s main goal in the watchmaking business is to create watches as commodities that are appreciated for the way they look and feel and the mechanisms they use, their entrance on the smartwatch market will surely be something innovative. The company will probably release a wristwatch that doesn’t even look like a smartwatch, but can be used as one. We don’t know anything more than the fact that the first such release, the Swatch Touch, will sport a touchscreen, but the company is a capable and promising one, so they might just take over a large proportion of the wearable market.
With competitors like Apple’s upcoming iWatch, Samsung’s stand-alone Galaxy Gear S, Motorola’s Moto 360, LG’S G Watch R, Asus’ Zenwatch and many more, Swatch is a bit late to the game and its sales has suffered considerably, but the watchmaker will surely get back on its firmest two feet in no time if they time it right.