Jiggyfly
Banned
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2013
- Messages
- 9,220
There is a lot of interesting Electronics and Techincal things coming to market I thought it would be good to have a dedicated place to post and talk the things that interest you.
I am a gadget guy so this caught my eye recently.
Samsung To Launch New Smartwatch Amid Changes In Market Expectations
So, the Smartwatch war is finally getting under way. Samsung, yesterday, officially confirmed the arrival of its smart watch, the Galaxy Gear, on the 4th September. There are rumors of delays in the iWatch – Apple‘s version – with some estimates now putting it at a year away with a late 2014 launch. Will Samsung steal the show?
By happy coincidence research firm Juniper launched a new report on the future of the smart watch segment, also yesterday.
The report, Next Generation Smart Watches, predicts a market of 36 million units, globally, by 2018. The report author, Nitan Bhas, notes:
By educating and publicising this device segment to the consumer, Apple and Samsung will indeed act as a catalyst to the market. In addition, being a key influencer, these player’s entry into the smart watch segment will benefit existing smart watch players – providing an increase in awareness and adoption of other wearable devices.
But whichever way you look at it, assuming these two giants do build momentum quickly, 36 million units is not a huge market and the likelihood is the smart watch will be priced as a peripheral rather than as a main device. The iWatch price tag is now thought to be around $200. This is the beginning of the computer’s distribution around the body rather than the birth of a new segment.
The possibility of a fast growing smart watch segment caused considerable excitement back in the spring. Back of the envelope calculations earlier in the year put the potential gains for Apple in excess of $60 billion a year. iDownoloadblog has a reprise of some of that data:
Analyst Katy Huberty wrote back in February that the iWatch would present Apple with an $80 billion opportunity , assuming it sells at least 50 million units at an average selling price between $200 and $300. This could drive an incremental $10 to $15 billion in revenue, or $2.50 to $4.00 in per-share earnings, each year.
Samsung, however, seems to suggest that its smart watch will be very much a peripheral for its own phones, rather than a general purpose device.
The watch will connect to a Samsung watch manager app on the phone to manage the connection between watch and the phone. The connection will use Samsung’s proprietary accessory protocol and will use Bluetooth LE as the network transport.
It is aimed at a young trendsetter market and will need an app downloaded from the Samsung app store. GigaOm reports that it will have an OLED display, so good color representation, and a gestural interface. However it looks like it will have a square screen and not make use of Samsung’s flexible display technology. It will use the strap for functions like camera and speakers. The device is expected to compete with Nike Fuelband too.
Taken together, the Samsung announcement, the details we have on the device, and the Juniper report, suggest that the entry of the two big players in devices to the Smart watch market will fall far short of expectations set by analysts earlier this year. That could change, of course, if Apple produces a revolutionary design and concept. But for now, expectations should be set lower for smart watches. Perhaps it is time to raise our expectations of other segments – not just main competitor glass but also other smartphone peripherals. The ultimate smartphone experience will be a personal server connecting us to a variety of wearables and essential location information points. A slow start for watches does not mean a failure point for that bigger vision.
I am a gadget guy so this caught my eye recently.
Samsung To Launch New Smartwatch Amid Changes In Market Expectations
So, the Smartwatch war is finally getting under way. Samsung, yesterday, officially confirmed the arrival of its smart watch, the Galaxy Gear, on the 4th September. There are rumors of delays in the iWatch – Apple‘s version – with some estimates now putting it at a year away with a late 2014 launch. Will Samsung steal the show?
By happy coincidence research firm Juniper launched a new report on the future of the smart watch segment, also yesterday.
The report, Next Generation Smart Watches, predicts a market of 36 million units, globally, by 2018. The report author, Nitan Bhas, notes:
By educating and publicising this device segment to the consumer, Apple and Samsung will indeed act as a catalyst to the market. In addition, being a key influencer, these player’s entry into the smart watch segment will benefit existing smart watch players – providing an increase in awareness and adoption of other wearable devices.
But whichever way you look at it, assuming these two giants do build momentum quickly, 36 million units is not a huge market and the likelihood is the smart watch will be priced as a peripheral rather than as a main device. The iWatch price tag is now thought to be around $200. This is the beginning of the computer’s distribution around the body rather than the birth of a new segment.
The possibility of a fast growing smart watch segment caused considerable excitement back in the spring. Back of the envelope calculations earlier in the year put the potential gains for Apple in excess of $60 billion a year. iDownoloadblog has a reprise of some of that data:
Analyst Katy Huberty wrote back in February that the iWatch would present Apple with an $80 billion opportunity , assuming it sells at least 50 million units at an average selling price between $200 and $300. This could drive an incremental $10 to $15 billion in revenue, or $2.50 to $4.00 in per-share earnings, each year.
Samsung, however, seems to suggest that its smart watch will be very much a peripheral for its own phones, rather than a general purpose device.
The watch will connect to a Samsung watch manager app on the phone to manage the connection between watch and the phone. The connection will use Samsung’s proprietary accessory protocol and will use Bluetooth LE as the network transport.
It is aimed at a young trendsetter market and will need an app downloaded from the Samsung app store. GigaOm reports that it will have an OLED display, so good color representation, and a gestural interface. However it looks like it will have a square screen and not make use of Samsung’s flexible display technology. It will use the strap for functions like camera and speakers. The device is expected to compete with Nike Fuelband too.
Taken together, the Samsung announcement, the details we have on the device, and the Juniper report, suggest that the entry of the two big players in devices to the Smart watch market will fall far short of expectations set by analysts earlier this year. That could change, of course, if Apple produces a revolutionary design and concept. But for now, expectations should be set lower for smart watches. Perhaps it is time to raise our expectations of other segments – not just main competitor glass but also other smartphone peripherals. The ultimate smartphone experience will be a personal server connecting us to a variety of wearables and essential location information points. A slow start for watches does not mean a failure point for that bigger vision.