In all fairness, Sammy has 100% of the shitty smart watch market.
Good point, jungmark. And just wait until the various analysts start counting in the "white box" segment of the watch market (you know, timex and seiko and street-corner knock-offs) and we'll see Sammy's share drop to under 0.01%. But of course, the same analysts will slant the story to point out that it's an infinitely greater part of market share than the zero share carried by Apple. I wonder what part of the watch market can be claimed by Rolex? I'm fairly certain they don't feel threatened, even if they only sell 50,000 watches per year.
This is by far not anywhere near insider knowledge, but just a guess. What is Apple were to make the iWatch that is tied to your iPhone (4S+). The only reason for the tethering is two fold: 1) give you an opportunity to read alerts as they come in, 2) allow you to access Siri without bringing the phone to you.
Before you discount that second one, think of it like this: You want to know some Siri enabled piece of data, like a sports score. Now you could pull out your phone, but for something simple like this, maybe it would be much quicker to just tap your watch, and ask, "What is the sports score of the Arizona Cardinals?" Siri, through the connection of your phone, tells you exactly what it is. This way there is no need for "Apps" on the watch or additional features. Just a timer portion, and a bluetooth connection to talk to your phone. Also, this way even if you do not pair it up to an iPhone, or your iPhone is away from you, it can still act like the watch you need it to.
The reason why this way is because it wouldn't take any horsepower on the phone, and it should be easy and cheap to produce. I am thinking $49 - $99 (on the upper end) using either the standard button batteries that are out there, or one that can connect via the Lightning adapter for quick charging.
"Today Apple announced that it would be releasing an iShoe in 2015 — a phone that doubles as a shoe. We, Samsung, tremendous true innovators, are already bringing out an Ap…, umm… Samsung iShoe in 2014. And when Apple copies our true innovative shoe we will sue them for copying us! You hear that? They will copy!………What? No we have not seen this Get Smart you speak of.…… Why?………"
It's interesting to see Qualcomm release a consumer product. I wonder what prompted this move? Do the people at Qualcomm think that they've cracked it? Or did they become frustrated that no Android OEMs were willing to take their ideas to market?
I would never buy one of these. When I got a cellphone it freed me from having to wear a watch. For a company to convince me to put something back on my wrist, the product has to be spectacular. I'm looking forward to what Apple and Google have coming.
Well I'm open to the concept as there's a large part of my day when I don't want to be touching my phone with my hands but having access to some information would be useful. That's why I still wear a watch at work anyway. (research lab). Then I suppose there's the avoidance of too high a profile for those places with the "Apple picking" problem…. a wrist device is probably less visible and less attractive to thieves, especially as it wouldn't be a standalone device but dependant on the iPhone it was paired with...
Not eager but open to the thought.
Now an Apple smart-TV I would be very interested in taking a closer look at, long time TiVo fan that I am.
I want a watch that runs a full version of Microsoft Office. One that lets me "click" a full-sized keyboard onto it when I want to be productive, after my choreographed dance number.
I want a watch that runs a full version of Microsoft Office. One that lets me "click" a full-sized keyboard onto it when I want to be productive, after my choreographed dance number.
/s
With a mini-USB port and an SD card slot of course?
I think this 50000 sold figure is way out. I'm pretty sure that many of these were bundled into special deals, like buy a Note 3 and get a Gear for that much off or even for free.
Either way, WAY TO GO SAMSUNG
I haven't seen any such offers and since it is not a subsidized device there won't be such offers.
I wonder if the "50,000 unit sales" includes the 30% return rate, which would actually amount to about 35,000 unit sales. Has anyone actually seen someone wearing a Gear watch? Hardly sounds like the wearable computing space "continues to heat up."
I've seen exactly ONE person wearing a Samsung Gear watch and he was selling them. I was not impressed.
Clearly it is not "continuing to heat up". Global daily sales of 850 units over a two month debut in the general consumer marketplace can't be described as anything except a dismal failure in a virtually nonexistent market. Apple must be laughing themselves silly, their misdirection having worked so flawlessly.
AppleInsider frequently says "such and such race continues to heat up" as if the phrase were going out of style. It's laughable.
If these numbers are genuine and not just sales in Korea, this is a massive flop as these are sales just after launch. They must have produced a run of at least a million units.
People keep assuming that the size and value of the watch market translates into a market for a digital watch. Luxury watches are propping up the watch industry and people buy those because they are items of jewellery. You don't buy an Omega watch with the intention of checking email on it.
A digital watch doesn't offer a sense of style and design, they are the exact opposite. Their design is intended to disappear to allow you to focus on the software. Nobody else can see your software so it doesn't serve its purpose as an item of jewellery. There are digital watch manufacturers that sell in larger volumes but they sell mostly cheap watches and each brand typically sells at most a few million per year.
One of the premium digital watches Casio G-Shock sold 65 million units in 30 years:
Given that it was 50 million in 2009, they are probably around 4 million units per year now. Analyst Katy Huberty thought that a smartwatch would sell 50 million units per year. This is perhaps a reality check.
You have to think about upgrade cycles too. People simply don't upgrade watches regularly like they would a phone because there's no new features to sell.
Disagree. Companies routinely do indeed send out misdirection. But not in this case.
Two issues:
-Samsung is a huge global conglomerate with massive r&d (and bigger marketing to push products too as they need to build hype in a way that apple doesn't). Remember they compete broadly in consumer electronics (and actually in areas like insurance). Look at its semiconductor, flat screen tv budgets for example. Misdirection won't materially hurt them. And what if Samsung gets lucky with a great product based on that misdirection, how dumb would you feel.
-Cook has mentioned wearable devices in past in an official context and investment analysts have routinely cited it. Apple IR and legal would be concerned about negative stock impact, pushback if it's totally false. Would not give rise to a shareholder suit, but they would not want the headache. Let's be clear, they care a LOT less than most firms do, but they frequently use targeted leaks to eliminate misinformation that they think could hurt them. Don't believe me, just talk to anyone who has been involved in routine corporate decision making at that level.
Following Occam's razor, apple is obviously just not willing to sell a compromise product and is trying to come up with something adds real value to people (and despite complaints about iPhones, they really worry about things like battery life).
First Apple got Samesung to put out a stupid pre-copy of the post-Isaacson "Apple TV" by making them think the Apple TV was a real TV and not the little box we all like and use... and now they've done the same with the "iWatch". So funny to watch the pirates get hoodwinked into spending millions chasing rumours! ROFLMAO!
Comments
In all fairness, Sammy has 100% of the shitty smart watch market.
Good point, jungmark. And just wait until the various analysts start counting in the "white box" segment of the watch market (you know, timex and seiko and street-corner knock-offs) and we'll see Sammy's share drop to under 0.01%. But of course, the same analysts will slant the story to point out that it's an infinitely greater part of market share than the zero share carried by Apple. I wonder what part of the watch market can be claimed by Rolex? I'm fairly certain they don't feel threatened, even if they only sell 50,000 watches per year.
This is by far not anywhere near insider knowledge, but just a guess. What is Apple were to make the iWatch that is tied to your iPhone (4S+). The only reason for the tethering is two fold: 1) give you an opportunity to read alerts as they come in, 2) allow you to access Siri without bringing the phone to you.
Before you discount that second one, think of it like this: You want to know some Siri enabled piece of data, like a sports score. Now you could pull out your phone, but for something simple like this, maybe it would be much quicker to just tap your watch, and ask, "What is the sports score of the Arizona Cardinals?" Siri, through the connection of your phone, tells you exactly what it is. This way there is no need for "Apps" on the watch or additional features. Just a timer portion, and a bluetooth connection to talk to your phone. Also, this way even if you do not pair it up to an iPhone, or your iPhone is away from you, it can still act like the watch you need it to.
The reason why this way is because it wouldn't take any horsepower on the phone, and it should be easy and cheap to produce. I am thinking $49 - $99 (on the upper end) using either the standard button batteries that are out there, or one that can connect via the Lightning adapter for quick charging.
LOL
I saw what you did there!
"Today Apple announced that it would be releasing an iShoe in 2015 — a phone that doubles as a shoe. We, Samsung, tremendous true innovators, are already bringing out an Ap…, umm… Samsung iShoe in 2014. And when Apple copies our true innovative shoe we will sue them for copying us! You hear that? They will copy!………What? No we have not seen this Get Smart you speak of.…… Why?………"
"
I'm completely stunned they sold that many of those $300 oversized ugly things.
Or is that simply the number going into the landfill? "Sold" being a euphemism for "left the factory"?
The electronics marketplace is truly huge isn't it?
Meanwhile, Qualcomm is releasing its own smartwatch.
It's interesting to see Qualcomm release a consumer product. I wonder what prompted this move? Do the people at Qualcomm think that they've cracked it? Or did they become frustrated that no Android OEMs were willing to take their ideas to market?
I would never buy one of these. When I got a cellphone it freed me from having to wear a watch. For a company to convince me to put something back on my wrist, the product has to be spectacular. I'm looking forward to what Apple and Google have coming.
Well I'm open to the concept as there's a large part of my day when I don't want to be touching my phone with my hands but having access to some information would be useful. That's why I still wear a watch at work anyway. (research lab). Then I suppose there's the avoidance of too high a profile for those places with the "Apple picking" problem…. a wrist device is probably less visible and less attractive to thieves, especially as it wouldn't be a standalone device but dependant on the iPhone it was paired with...
Not eager but open to the thought.
Now an Apple smart-TV I would be very interested in taking a closer look at, long time TiVo fan that I am.
I want a watch that runs a full version of Microsoft Office. One that lets me "click" a full-sized keyboard onto it when I want to be productive, after my choreographed dance number.
/s
I want a watch that runs a full version of Microsoft Office. One that lets me "click" a full-sized keyboard onto it when I want to be productive, after my choreographed dance number.
/s
With a mini-USB port and an SD card slot of course?
SAMDUNG not worried.
Apple will release one soon so SAMDUNG can copy and sell a few billions to make up for their 1st shit.
EDIT: Speaking of which, that's the best SAMSUNG's R&D can do, eh?!! ROFLMAO
I haven't seen any such offers and since it is not a subsidized device there won't be such offers.
Samsung sues, citing Get Smart as prior art.
I wonder if the "50,000 unit sales" includes the 30% return rate, which would actually amount to about 35,000 unit sales. Has anyone actually seen someone wearing a Gear watch? Hardly sounds like the wearable computing space "continues to heat up."
I've seen exactly ONE person wearing a Samsung Gear watch and he was selling them. I was not impressed.
Wow that many fools bought that brick. I guess theres a group of suckers born every minute.
AppleInsider frequently says "such and such race continues to heat up" as if the phrase were going out of style. It's laughable.
The poor sod. I wonder if the Korean market will be more forgiving with this Bluetooth headset on your wrist because it's Samsung?
People keep assuming that the size and value of the watch market translates into a market for a digital watch. Luxury watches are propping up the watch industry and people buy those because they are items of jewellery. You don't buy an Omega watch with the intention of checking email on it.
A digital watch doesn't offer a sense of style and design, they are the exact opposite. Their design is intended to disappear to allow you to focus on the software. Nobody else can see your software so it doesn't serve its purpose as an item of jewellery. There are digital watch manufacturers that sell in larger volumes but they sell mostly cheap watches and each brand typically sells at most a few million per year.
One of the premium digital watches Casio G-Shock sold 65 million units in 30 years:
http://www.freshnessmag.com/2013/08/09/casio-g-shock-30th-anniversary-shock-the-world-2013-nyc-event-recap/
Given that it was 50 million in 2009, they are probably around 4 million units per year now. Analyst Katy Huberty thought that a smartwatch would sell 50 million units per year. This is perhaps a reality check.
You have to think about upgrade cycles too. People simply don't upgrade watches regularly like they would a phone because there's no new features to sell.
Two issues:
-Samsung is a huge global conglomerate with massive r&d (and bigger marketing to push products too as they need to build hype in a way that apple doesn't). Remember they compete broadly in consumer electronics (and actually in areas like insurance). Look at its semiconductor, flat screen tv budgets for example. Misdirection won't materially hurt them. And what if Samsung gets lucky with a great product based on that misdirection, how dumb would you feel.
-Cook has mentioned wearable devices in past in an official context and investment analysts have routinely cited it. Apple IR and legal would be concerned about negative stock impact, pushback if it's totally false. Would not give rise to a shareholder suit, but they would not want the headache. Let's be clear, they care a LOT less than most firms do, but they frequently use targeted leaks to eliminate misinformation that they think could hurt them. Don't believe me, just talk to anyone who has been involved in routine corporate decision making at that level.
Following Occam's razor, apple is obviously just not willing to sell a compromise product and is trying to come up with something adds real value to people (and despite complaints about iPhones, they really worry about things like battery life).
Holy crap!!! They sold 50,000 of those things?!?!? I thought they would sell 17.