It's not about time: Smartwatch success hinges on whether Samsung, Nissan and Apple can turn technology into fashion
Samsung won plenty of media attention and public interest with the launch of its smartwatch, the Galaxy Gear, at the IFA consumer electronics show last Wednesday.
Samsung debuted its Galaxy Gear smartwatch last week
The 1.63 inch display straps to your wrist and tells the time. It’s a watch. It’s also a camera and has the ability to connect to your Galaxy Note so you can use it as a phone extension.
The initial response has been mixed. The smartwatch is a nifty concept for many and Samsung has thought carefully about what is required for success. On the other hand, some commentators ask “what’s the point?” and rightly point to significant technical limitations. Once upon a time watch wearers had to wind up their watch every night, and with roughly a day of battery power in the Galaxy Gear that’s a tradition Samsung must be hoping we are happy to return to.
So, what's the point? Smartwatch analysis is not about whether we need the technology that currently lives in our pocket to be strapped to our wrist. The smartwatch, if it succeeds, isn’t likely to succeed as a direct replacement for the smartphone. Once we understand the role of the smartwatch we can begin to speculate on market size and opportunity.
There is certainly plenty of interest in the opportunity. Over a year ago, nearly 70,000 individuals contributed to the Pebble: E-paper Watch in a Kickstarter campaign. Pebble Technology raised over $10m for its early smartwatch – one designed for both iPhone and Android. Chip maker Qualcomm continues its shift towards all-things mobile and has a smartwatch product called the Qualcomm Toq. At the Frankfurt Motor Show Nissan will be demonstrating its Nissan Nismo Watch. Yes, a smartwatch from a car company.
The key to understanding the potential of the smartwatch market is to think about why Nissan is interested. The Nissan Nismo Watch connects the car to the driver. The smartwatch captures the biometric data of the driver such as their heart rate, reports back on the performance of the car and acts as a control for some of the electronics via Bluetooth.
The what’s the point? analysis on the Nissan Nismo Watch is that it may save you both time and money by helping you manage your drive better.
The watch could even be used as a key to the car, although it is not yet clear whether that’s an option Nissan will make available.
The use of NFC/key combos from smart devices is not new. There are plenty of lock sets out there that can be accessed with an app from your smartphone (but wouldn't it be easier if your door just unlocked when you touched it?). Smartwatches, readers strapped to your wrist, offer an alternative to the 'blind' NFC broadcast. With a device on your wrist it is possible to use your biorhythms as a means as unique as a fingerprint to identify you. Bionym, a Canadian technology company, is one such player in this new market and is already accepting pre-orders on their wristband.
The idea of electronic locks for households may seem niche but getting rid of passwords is big business. This is an area where Facebook, Google and Twitter go head to head. You see this each time you join a new site or service and use your established Facebook, Google or Twitter account to log in.
These tech giants want the data your login generates and they want to be the home for your digital identity.
Keep passwords in mind when you read rumours that the next iPhone may have a fingerprint scanner in it. It is always risky speculating on rumours but it is certainly plausible that Apple is very strongly considering the wearable technology market as well as the personal identity market.
Apple does very well at turning technology into fashion. That’s exactly what needs to happen for a smartwatch to be successful.
It is hard to see a future where the public commonly wear three smart wristbands: a watch, a password band and a health tracker (like the Nike FuelBand). Instead it seems more likely that the public will wear one smart band; one that could be used for a password, tracks fitness and helps access smart devices like phones and cars.
The march of the smartwatch is neither about an expensive way to tell the time or even to avoid the drama of pulling your 6.2” phablet device from your bag to answer a call. It’s about identity: both in fashion and in security.
Apple has a history of success with fashion, but it faces a struggle when it comes to making any smartwatches of its own widely compatible with enough non-Apple products to have large scale success on the digital identity front. Alternatively, Android has a history of success with digital identity that links in with third party sites and non-Google hardware manufacturers, but may have a battle to produce the required fashion piece a smartwatch would need to be.
This is a new market. TMR estimates that the wearable technology market will be worth $5.8bn (US dollars) by 2018. Given the potential and the size of companies tempted by the market it is likely that the Galaxy Gear won’t be the last big name smartwatch that will earn media coverage.
We just have to wait and see whether it is the last smartwatch to earn public interest.
Andrew Girdwood is media innovations director at DigitasLBi