Are Smartwatches On Their Way Out Of Popular Use?
It may seem that just as soon as smartwatches hit the scene, they might also bow out again. Read more below…
Occasionally, you see them. Those inconspicuous mini computers strapped to someone’s wrist. But the smartwatch—once lauded by many as being the Next Big Thing—is still nowhere near as ubiquitous as the smartphones they were meant to replace. Seeing them these days still feels more like a novelty, rather than a sure sign of mainstream adoption.
Smartwatch Hype
When Apple rolled out its Apple Watch in 2015, competitors such as Pebble, AndroidWear, and Samsung upped their game as well. A supposedly better slew of models have hit the market since, increasing competition. But sales figures indicate that consumers simply are not convinced. All of which begs the question: if the smartwatch hasn’t caught on yet, will it ever?
Back in late 2016, TechCrunch reported that smartwatch sales were declining sharply. Quoting an industry report from IDC, they wrote:
Smartwatch shipments experienced “significant” declines in the third quarter, as total shipments were down 51.6% from the same time last year. Just 2.7 million units were shipped in Q3 2016 versus 5.6 million in Q3 2015. While IDC offers several explanations as to why sales are dropping – including issues related to launch timings, Android Wear delays, and more – the numbers still indicate how smartwatches are having a hard time finding traction among a majority of consumers.
Too Connected?
In the era of on-demand notifications, 24-hour news cycles, and constant connectivity, one would be forgiven for assuming that smartwatches would’ve been a seamless fit. After all, having your notifications appear on your wrist would make it even less likely that you might miss a call, email or social media notification you really needed to see. They were also considered a status symbol; your phone stays in your pocket, but your watch is a status signifier all day long. However, the fact that consumers aren’t falling in love with smartwatches is telling. It indicates there is a line that is too far when it comes to connectivity—and the wearable line might be it.
What need to smartwatches really fill?
Recently, the Chinese head of electronics company Huawei was recently quoted as saying: “I am always confused as to what smartwatches are for when we have smartphones.” This was rather controversial, as his company manufactures the very devices he is questioning, but his point underlines perhaps why the watches haven’t caught on. If smartwatches came before smartphones, they might’ve had a chance. But the fact that we’re all smartphone addicts now makes them entirely redundant.
As Mashable noted, another problem is that the utility of wrist watches has been declining in general. They write that all the technical problems associated with smartwatches on the market:
Are all symptoms of the bigger problem with smartwatches, the one that no one is talking about: watches, plain old analog watches, are dying a slow death and they are taking their “smart” counterparts down with them … If you’d rather use your phone over a watch then what good is a smaller, buggier, version on your wrist? And if you’d rather have a real, old school retro analog watch, why would you ever choose a more expensive smartwatch that will become obsolete months after you buy it?
RIP Smartwatches
The final nail in the coffin of the smartwatch may just be the fact that the industry leader Apple stops making them. Already, the company refuses to admit what their sales figures are for the device, which indicates that it’s likely not as high as they’d like to be. As Mashable noted, “Last year, it was clear that consumers were looking for proof that a smartwatch was really worth the investment. To be successful in 2017, that question will still have to be answered..