Smartwatch shipments soared 316 percent in Q4 2015, outpaced Swiss watches for the first time

[Shawn Knight]

I've taken multiple jabs at the usefulness of smartwatches over the past couple of years. To many (myself included), they simply don't serve a purpose or fill a need – they're a solution waiting for a problem to happen.

Nevertheless, major technology brands have continued to pump out the high-tech wearables and slowly but surely, consumers have started to come around. In fact, smartwatch shipments during the fourth quarter of 2015 actually surpassed those of traditional Swiss watches for the first time ever according to market research firm Strategy Analytics.

Global shipments of smartwatches hit 8.1 million in Q4 2015, up from just 1.9 million in the year-ago quarter. Swiss watch shipments, meanwhile, slid to 7.9 million during the same period, down from 8.3 million in Q4 2014. Or in other words, smartwatch shipments grew by 315.6 percent while Swiss watch shipments fell by 4.8 percent.

Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics, said the Swiss watch industry has been very slow to react to the development of smartwatches. In fact, Mawston likened the Swiss watch industry to the (incorrect) myth about ostriches sticking their heads in the sand and hoping smartwatches will go away.

That's not to say that every Swiss watchmaker has been ignoring the smartwatch trend. Tag Heuer, for example, launched an Android Wear smartwatch of its own late last year. Priced at $1,500, the Tag Heuer Connected Watch was a hot seller during the holidays and forced the company to ramp up production to meet demand.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/63865-smartwatch-shipments-soared-316-percent-q4-2015-outpaced.html

 

[Adhmuz]

Nice watches, except they make the band mandatory by blending it in to the body, I have a passionate dislike for these cheap plastic bands, I don't avoid buying watches with them, I just replace the band with something metal as soon as I can. On the Casio for example it would look out of place due to the design being seamlessly blended from body to band. Yet I still don't see why I would need a smart watch in the first place, I'm more interested in the altimeter feature than being able to pair to my phone...

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Hopefully this smartwatch fad will soar, quickly plateau, then quietly slip into oblivion much like the hula hoop did, but unlike the smartwatch, the hula hoop actually served a useful purpose.

 

[Uncle Al]

Cute, but at $24 I can buy 62.5 more watches for the price of one of these ..... besides, when you're retired, who needs a stinking watch!

 

[Arturo]

Thank God, most people don't think like this, or even TechSpot would have to close. Because, what is the point of showing something new if everybody clings to the old stuff. Static mentality. Sorry

 

[captaincranky]

Thank God, most people don't think like this, or even TechSpot would have to close. Because, what is the point of showing something new if everybody clings to the old stuff. Static mentality. Sorry

What's the sense of buying something new, simply because it's new? Do you have some "struggling"Asian conglomerate in mind to designate as your payroll deduction charity?

 

[Arturo]

Thank God, most people don't think like this, or even TechSpot would have to close. Because, what is the point of showing something new if everybody clings to the old stuff. Static mentality. Sorry

What's the sense of buying something new, simply because it's new? Do you have some "struggling"Asian conglomerate in mind to designate as your payroll deduction charity?

The sense is called being happy. Smart watches is a cool idea. It makes me happy.

 

[captaincranky]

The sense is called being happy. Smart watches is a cool idea. It makes me happy.

Arguing with you against smart watches makes me happy. So I guess we're both getting something out of this....(y)