Smartwatch Wars : Disruption Is At Hand

I won’t deny the fact that I like gadgets from Apple, and have been following up on the updates about their much anticipated smartwatch - Apple Watch (which is slated to go on sale from April 24). The thing that intrigued me more than the updates on Apple Watch was the flurry of renowned watch brands like Tissot and TAG Heuer announcing their own versions of smartwatches in the past couple of weeks. It is natural for the likes of Samsung and Motorola, who are direct competitors to Apple, be in the arena of smartwatches. However, seeing the legendary luxury watch brands jump on to the smartwatches bandwagon appears as if these luxury watch brands deem Apple Watch to be a threat!

We are all living in the age of ‘disruptive innovation’, where an innovation carves a market for itself by finding a new customer base and displaces an existing market. The likes of Uber and Ola cab-rental services are examples of disruptive innovations where they introduced a non-traditional way of functioning with no hassles of maintaining a cab fleet or any fixed assets.

Likewise, the wristwatch segment has been subjected to some really interesting disruptive innovations in the past few years. Couple of years back, Pebble released a smartwatch that communicated with the user’s smartphone via Bluetooth and displayed notifications about emails and text messages, allowed controlling music and tracking fitness, etc. And that had set the trend for devices not working in a stand-alone but inter-connected way, communicating with other devices, particularly smartphones. Now you don’t have to flick out your smartphone from the pocket each time it buzzes; you get notified on your smartwatch about the incoming call or text and you can take the appropriate action right from your watch.

I don’t see smartwatches as a fad that will fizzle out soon because it is a sensible extension of a device which has become an integral part of our connected lives – a smartphone. Smartwatches will not be an additional device that we will have to carry, but ultimately will be a natural replacement to traditional wristwatches. Smartwatches have graduated from gadget enthusiasts’ market to become more mainstream, with both Google and Apple launching their own versions of smartwatches. Till now these smartwatches were in the price segment of USD 150 – USD 350. Much under the price segment of luxury watches like Tissot, Rolex, etc. Whereas Apple Watch will start at a price point of around USD 350, and will go up to USD 12000 for its 18-karat rose-gold edition. The foray of Apple Watch entering into the price segment where the luxury brands operate is a worrying factor for these brands. They cannot afford to ignore the smartwatch trend. If someone is buying an Apple Watch priced at USD 1000 or more, it will definitely be replacing a luxury wristwatch, as no one will wear two wristwatches.

For industry trend analysis I often cite the example of Kodak, a renowned film-based camera manufacturer which didn’t gauge the digital photography market well and was beaten by Canon and Nikon. In the same vein, a threat looms over the traditional wristwatch manufacturers if they ignore the trend of smartwatches. Tissot and TAG Heuer are taking the right measure by being cognizant of disruptive innovation brought by smartwatches which can negatively impact their market share.

It pays more to take risks rather than becoming a sitting duck to a trend that is going to impact your business.

Potentiality versus Opportunity

Bound by my fad for technology and following the latest developments from the house of world’s leading innovator Apple, I decided to pen down this blog post. Technology excites me and keeping a tab on the latest trends is something I’m fond of. Keeping its trend alive, Apple at its latest Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) announced a flurry of new products that it plans to offer this year, including new operating systems and updated Mac computers. It seems that Apple, one of the world leaders, has found inspiration again and is ready to take the game to the opposition. As for these wonderful pieces of innovation, I’m surely going to review one of them very soon.

iOS 7, the latest version of Apple’s flagship mobile operating system, is the biggest change to the platform since the iPhone was introduced five years ago. Featuring a radically overhauled interface, new Control Center, transparent animations and more, it's pretty impressive. With a greater synergy among hardware and software design, Apple’s iOS 7 features flat, simple design with a vast use of light and bright colors. The new design is evident in everything from sharper, flatter icons, slimmer fonts, a new slide-to-unlock function, and a new control panel that slides up from the bottom of the screen for frequently accessed settings.

Along with this, Apple also plans to introduce the new Mac Pro, which will include a new Intel Xeon processor and come standard with dual AMD workstation discrete graphics processors. It will also support 4K, ultra high-definition displays out of the box, and the system is only one eighth the volume of the earlier Mac Pro. A combination of all these features makes this machine certainly designed for an amazing speed.

I remember Steve Jobs mentioning in one of his interviews that we are living in the post-PC era. I think it has to be true. With the introduction of OS X Mavericks, Apple has proven that there is still much work that can be done to improve computing on the desktop and laptop. With more than 200 new features coming in the fall, OS X Mavericks brings Maps and iBooks to the Mac and introduces many other features.

This reminds me of an article I was reading a few days ago, when a thought crossed my mind, that compelled and redirected me to a different direction. We Indians are a smart race. Test us mentally and we can rise to the challenge. Little wonder that the world’s sharpest brains belong to the Indian lineage and undoubtedly it is a matter of great pride.

Though there is enough potential in our country, there seems to be a dearth of opportunities and resources. Just last month, I had tweeted about this 18-year-old girl, Eesha Khare, who invented a super-capacitor device that could potentially charge your cellphone in less than 20 seconds. Imagine how much time that will save! Being of Indian origin, I doubt if Eesha would have been rewarded in a similar manner if she were to be a resident of India.

Moreover, like I’d mentioned in my previous post, the education system in India must strive to focus on an overall holistic development of a child and an equal importance has to be given to his or her knowledge, hard work, perseverance and passion. The youth today has been abundantly exposed to numerous media channels and cultures that they are constantly on a lookout for ways to represent themselves in front of the world. Their sheer confidence and a steadfast attitude to make it big is something that needs a constant dose of encouragement and there shall be no looking back.  

Therefore, I believe that these young brains that possess immense talent should be given a platform to showcase their work and must be rewarded for their achievements. It’s them who will bring India to the forefront in the years to come and recognizing their gift will help us break new grounds like never before and reach new avenues.