Ok, where are the partners that know how to make watches?

[ahaxton]

LG, Motorola, and Samsung are all well and good, but where's Seiko? Timex? Bulova? Fossil? Rolex? Movado? Omega? The companies who know how to make really elegant, or at least comfortable, watches? I don't understand, in an industry who's growth rate is dying, why at least one or two of them aren't getting on board the smart watch train and putting out something that looks less like a match box strapped to your wrist and more like a watch.

 

[ultravisitor]

Oh please. You think Rolex of all companies would make a smartwatch? They are the least likely.

 

[YAYTech]

See: Paradigm shift as applied to Swiss watch production. History often repeats itself.

 

[ultravisitor]

See: Paradigm shift as applied to Swiss watch production. History often repeats itself.

There are Swiss watch companies other than Rolex. Most of those are not nearly as strict with their brand. If anything, the other companies might create smartwatches. Rolex will not. IF Rolex were to create a smartwatch, they would likely produce it under their Tudor brand--NOT Rolex.

 

[YAYTech]

There are Swiss watch companies other than Rolex. Most of those are not nearly as strict with their brand. If anything, the other companies might create smartwatches. Rolex will not. IF Rolex were to create a smartwatch, they would likely produce it under their Tudor brand--NOT Rolex.

You misunderstand my point. The Swiss used to have essentially a monopoly on watch manufacturing, because it required fine craftsmanship that they had down pat, and no one could do it anywhere near as well as they could. Then as simple computer chips were coming out, it was realized that one could make a digital watch (even if it still has an analog face, most modern watches are digital underneath, not run by gears). If I remember correctly, the Swiss were even the first to create a concept model of a digital watch, but they also dismissed it as just a concept/fad, and didn't pursue it. The Japanese and others did, and thus the Swiss did not follow the paradigm shift, and they lost the vast majority of their market share. (Perhaps ironically, Rolex now capitalizes on being one of the very few that still do things the old way, and have managed to use their existence in that niche to command a premium price. I agree that Rolex is unlikely to do a smartwatch, because it would be far removed from their niche.)

The same loss of market share could easily happen to current companies known for making watches if they dismiss these much more interactive smartwatches. In 5-10 years time, it's conceivable that most folks will have some type of smartwatch (even if some may end up being of a more mild variety, while others become much more advanced), and a large number of manufacturers who currently are big names in watches could be gone.

 

[ultravisitor]

The same loss of market share could easily happen to current companies known for making watches if they dismiss these much more interactive smartwatches. In 5-10 years time, it's conceivable that most folks will have some type of smartwatch (even if some may end up being of a more mild variety, while others become much more advanced), and a large number of manufacturers who currently are big names in watches could be gone.

I understand this exactly. But it's just as you said previously in your post: "Rolex now capitalizes on being one of the very few that still do things the old way, and have managed to use their existence in that niche to command a premium price. I agree that Rolex is unlikely to do a smartwatch, because it would be far removed from their niche."

So essentially you agree with me.

 

[YAYTech]

I understand this exactly. But it's just as you said previously in your post: "Rolex now capitalizes on being one of the very few that still do things the old way, and have managed to use their existence in that niche to command a premium price. I agree that Rolex is unlikely to do a smartwatch, because it would be far removed from their niche."

So essentially you agree with me.

Yes, I do. My original post wasn't meant to be in reply to you about Rolex, it was in reply to the original post, and the question of why there aren't watches from watch manufacturers. Essentially I was trying to say "we're not seeing watches from watch manufacturers, because they don't seem to understand that if they don't get in on this shift in their market, they could become irrelevant and lose their market." Interestingly enough, Rolex might be the exception to this, since they have their own niche. Though they might be able to get in on the market with something along the lines of the Withings smartwatch.

 

[theduder]

As someone who has many watches from those brands, business is good. This isn't an adapt or die situation for them.

I predict that once the entire set of smartwatch guts and screen can be miniaturized to the size and thickness of the dial, then we could see it in watches like that. That could take decades.

Fwiw, I will probably be wearing two watches, a nice one on one wrist and this clunky thing on the other.

 

[YAYTech]

As someone who has many watches from those brands, business is good. This isn't an adapt or die situation for them.

Yet. I'm not convinced it'll take decades to see the smartwatch form factor slim down, especially if we see some more mild smartwatches take root, like something that has a traditional face, but a few health sensors and bluetooth connectivity to track some things. Granted, that's not Android Wear territory, but it's still smartwatch territory, and it may become an adapt or die situation. The Swiss watchmakers didn't lose their market overnight either.

 

[theduder]

Yet. I'm not convinced it'll take decades to see the smartwatch form factor slim down, especially if we see some more mild smartwatches take root, like something that has a traditional face, but a few health sensors and bluetooth connectivity to track some things. Granted, that's not Android Wear territory, but it's still smartwatch territory, and it may become an adapt or die situation. The Swiss watchmakers didn't lose their market overnight either.

My statement was it will take decades to reduce the size of the display, power, and all the internals to this size and form factor.

At that point, it could go in any watch and would probably lead to better adoption in high end timepieces.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[YAYTech]

My statement was it will take decades to reduce the size of the display, power, and all the internals to this size and form factor.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/01/2ugunyvu.jpg

At that point, it could go in any watch and would probably lead to better adoption in high end timepieces.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Ok, I can agree with the statement that it'll take decades to get it that thin, but I don't agree with the implied assumption that getting it that thin is what it would take to challenge existing commonplace watch manufacturers. If you look at common watches, most of them aren't terribly thin. Heck, I've been sticking with an old Casio watch because it's one of the few relatively inexpensive watches that is actually slim. A look at men's watches at department stores shows a selection that's often nearly as large as these Android Wear watches. (I think there's more of an issue selling women on these, because women's watches have traditionally been notably smaller.) If you're someone who absolutely must have a really thin watch, then yeah, it's going to be a long time until you're sold, but that doesn't mean that a large chunk of the market won't have different buying habits, which could threaten traditional watch manufacturers.

 

[theduder]

I wasn't talking about challenging them. I'm talking about enabling them. Same automatic movement, same everything, just a thin watch face that integrates the smartwatch components

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