I find it odd that selling 700,000 smart watches "pales in comparison to larger more established firms." 700k is a pretty good chunk of the market. Pebble's failure in my view is having quite excellent sales and still depending on the kindness of strangers to stay afloat.
I don't know how true the numbers are, because I'm pretty positive that they're lumping fitness bands in with them, but supposedly, 7 million smartwatches were sold last year. If true, and I don't believe the numbers, then Pebble's sales were just 10%.
Pebbles chances in creating their own smartwatch ecosystem is approx the same as their chances in creating their own smartphone ecosystem.
Wearables is nascent, but what Apple doesn't get, Google is pitching to be the "anti-Apple users' choice" (who know, perhaps it will be a bigger market than Apple's) and Tizen and Microsoft will fight for the table scraps left over. I'm sure Pebble can join that category and be a proud, contrarian niche.
I'm not sure exactly what kind of ecosystem can built up around a smartwatch, other than for apps, of which Pebble has thousands. The quality of the apps is something else, of course, but the large majority of current Apple Watch apps are said to be terrible. Hopefully that will change with time as more developers actually get a watch.
Ok. I was an actual user for over a year until Friday night and I had no complaints about alerts. 'Any' alerts vs. 'no' alerts on my wrist was a huge improvement over taking my phone out of my pocket. Just saying'.
Except that that is a problem for most people. Reviewers have been really bothered about getting constant alerts without being able to turn off ones that weren't important. Without being able to know which alert is what, something that can't be modified on these smartwatchs, you need to look at all of them. The purpose to a smartwatch is to make things easier, not more annoying.
For everyone here, please take a look at the source article from TechCrunch. It is speculative link bait. And I've got to say I'm pretty disappointed in AI considering they have always been such a great source of information.
I'm not sure exactly what kind of ecosystem can built up around a smartwatch, other than for apps, of which Pebble has thousands. The quality of the apps is something else, of course, but the large majority of current Apple Watch apps are said to be terrible. Hopefully that will change with time as more developers actually get a watch.
...and bad news is only going to snowball for Pebble in the following years as used Apple Watches and Android Wear are going to hit the market for a comparable price to their new low end models. Who in their right mind would go for something like a Pebble when far more advanced, capable and better looking products are on the market for less or comparable? I love an underdog fight as much as anyone, but this one they cannot win.
The end is nigh for Pebble if they can't end up selling themselves off to some sucker.
I don't know how true the numbers are, because I'm pretty positive that they're lumping fitness bands in with them, but supposedly, 7 million smartwatches were sold last year. If true, and I don't believe the numbers, then Pebble's sales were just 10%.
The Galaxy Gear is not a smart watch - its very dumb
And the current and future morons that are saying they can't run iPhone apps on the watch well "enough said". This is THE reason they and their ilk are working for or support the soon to be dead competition. Realty is they never stood a snowballs chance in hell at all. Kind of similar to the look on Billy's boys face a few years ago when Steve commented that users looking for a good computer viewed an APple Mactintosh and it OS like a cold beer in Hell
Let's get something straight. Pebble has had problems with venture capital from the very beginning. The reason the went to crowd funding in the first place was because venture capitalists weren't interested.
So here we are with their new project, and again, they are not interested. Nothing new.
We can look back to the beginning. Here's just one article from that time.
You know how this works. People will buy something until something better comes along. Yes, the first models were pretty cheap. But they had to lower the price even further as the Apple Watch came out. That likely lead to their financial concerns.
This new watch, in keeping with its more advanced design, costs more. At some point, however, the price comes close enough to the Apple Watch so that potential customers may just say the heck with it and pay the extra to get the much more sophisticated product.
I'd agree totally except people still buy Windows PCs, so there are exceptions.
As I said, most reviewers. You can look up reviews if you are really interested. Just type Pebble watch review into Google, Yahoo or Bing, whichever you use.
The Galaxy Gear is not a smart watch - its very dumb
And the current and future morons that are saying they can't run iPhone apps on the watch well "enough said". This is THE reason they and their ilk are working for or support the soon to be dead competition. Realty is they never stood a snowballs chance in hell at all. Kind of similar to the look on Billy's boys face a few years ago when Steve commented that users looking for a good computer viewed an APple Mactintosh and it OS like a cold beer in Hell
I don't know if I would agree that it isn't a smartwatch. They have several models. But I do see regular fitness bands being lumped into the smartwatch category if they have any kind of a display. If the display gives the time, I suppose you might be able to call it one, but it's a real stretch. You need apps for the "smart" part to mean anything these days. And something that just tracks steps and basic heartbeat isn't much of a smartwatch. It closer to a featurewatch, or a smartband.
I'm not sure exactly what kind of ecosystem can built up around a smartwatch, other than for apps, of which Pebble has thousands. The quality of the apps is something else, of course, but the large majority of current Apple Watch apps are said to be terrible. Hopefully that will change with time as more developers actually get a watch.
1. Straps, charging docks, etc are a big part of the ecosystem.
2. I disagree with those who find the watch apps "terrible." They are currently limited, but I find them useful. I guess some people expect it to replicate more functionality of the iPhone version, but that is not necessary nor ideal.
1. Straps, charging docks, etc are a big part of the ecosystem.
2. I disagree with those who find the watch apps "terrible." They are currently limited, but I find them useful. I guess some people expect it to replicate more functionality of the iPhone version, but that is not necessary nor ideal.
Straps, I suppose. But if a standard spring and pin is used, then no one needs to do anything about bands. I think the new watch went with a custom band release, from what I've read. And true, a dock is something, though if all you can do with them is charge, other than for some small convenience, it's not really much.
As the Apple Watch came out with 3,500 apps, it's doubtful that you tried most of them. Some of the apps have received very good reviews. It's just that most of them don't do much, or do it well—yet. Reviewers do try many more than the average consumer will.
I think Pebble needs to reduce their price. 200-250 for a Pebble is a stones throw away from Apple's 350.
They need to have their best watch under 200...say 149. That would get me on board as well as my 14 year old kid
They also need to make a profit. I don't understand why people seem to think that pricing is arbitrary. This isn't jewelry, a high priced mechanical watch, or high end audio equipment.
I recently made the decision to buy a smart watch and decided on the Pebble for price reasons. If the Apple watch were $150 to $200 I would have bought one but $350 for a base model is too much for a smart watch for me. I paid $80 for my pebble a few weeks ago and it's feature set is fine for me. The only thing I really want that pebble doesn't support is heart rate function. I get emails, SMS, music control, lost my phone, left phone behind, etc features and that is enough for me. For 1/3rd the cost the pebble seems to work fine for my needs and wants.
Comments
I don't know how true the numbers are, because I'm pretty positive that they're lumping fitness bands in with them, but supposedly, 7 million smartwatches were sold last year. If true, and I don't believe the numbers, then Pebble's sales were just 10%.
I'm not sure exactly what kind of ecosystem can built up around a smartwatch, other than for apps, of which Pebble has thousands. The quality of the apps is something else, of course, but the large majority of current Apple Watch apps are said to be terrible. Hopefully that will change with time as more developers actually get a watch.
Except that that is a problem for most people. Reviewers have been really bothered about getting constant alerts without being able to turn off ones that weren't important. Without being able to know which alert is what, something that can't be modified on these smartwatchs, you need to look at all of them. The purpose to a smartwatch is to make things easier, not more annoying.
Microsoft should buy it.
ROFL
I'm not sure exactly what kind of ecosystem can built up around a smartwatch, other than for apps, of which Pebble has thousands. The quality of the apps is something else, of course, but the large majority of current Apple Watch apps are said to be terrible. Hopefully that will change with time as more developers actually get a watch.
said to be terrible by whom?
...and bad news is only going to snowball for Pebble in the following years as used Apple Watches and Android Wear are going to hit the market for a comparable price to their new low end models. Who in their right mind would go for something like a Pebble when far more advanced, capable and better looking products are on the market for less or comparable? I love an underdog fight as much as anyone, but this one they cannot win.
The end is nigh for Pebble if they can't end up selling themselves off to some sucker.
uh oh
That's an unfortunate question to ask of a mod
I don't know how true the numbers are, because I'm pretty positive that they're lumping fitness bands in with them, but supposedly, 7 million smartwatches were sold last year. If true, and I don't believe the numbers, then Pebble's sales were just 10%.
The Galaxy Gear is not a smart watch - its very dumb
And the current and future morons that are saying they can't run iPhone apps on the watch well "enough said". This is THE reason they and their ilk are working for or support the soon to be dead competition. Realty is they never stood a snowballs chance in hell at all. Kind of similar to the look on Billy's boys face a few years ago when Steve commented that users looking for a good computer viewed an APple Mactintosh and it OS like a cold beer in Hell
So here we are with their new project, and again, they are not interested. Nothing new.
We can look back to the beginning. Here's just one article from that time.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rakeshsharma/2013/07/04/deconstructing-pebbles-mainstream-push/
You dislike the Pebble that much?
I'd agree totally except people still buy Windows PCs, so there are exceptions.
As I said, most reviewers. You can look up reviews if you are really interested. Just type Pebble watch review into Google, Yahoo or Bing, whichever you use.
I don't know if I would agree that it isn't a smartwatch. They have several models. But I do see regular fitness bands being lumped into the smartwatch category if they have any kind of a display. If the display gives the time, I suppose you might be able to call it one, but it's a real stretch. You need apps for the "smart" part to mean anything these days. And something that just tracks steps and basic heartbeat isn't much of a smartwatch. It closer to a featurewatch, or a smartband.
I'm assuming you're not being totally serious about that, but I get the drift.
1. Straps, charging docks, etc are a big part of the ecosystem.
2. I disagree with those who find the watch apps "terrible." They are currently limited, but I find them useful. I guess some people expect it to replicate more functionality of the iPhone version, but that is not necessary nor ideal.
Straps, I suppose. But if a standard spring and pin is used, then no one needs to do anything about bands. I think the new watch went with a custom band release, from what I've read. And true, a dock is something, though if all you can do with them is charge, other than for some small convenience, it's not really much.
As the Apple Watch came out with 3,500 apps, it's doubtful that you tried most of them. Some of the apps have received very good reviews. It's just that most of them don't do much, or do it well—yet. Reviewers do try many more than the average consumer will.
They also need to make a profit. I don't understand why people seem to think that pricing is arbitrary. This isn't jewelry, a high priced mechanical watch, or high end audio equipment.