Not the best day for classics.
Researchers from strategy analytics published a report on sales in the wristwatch market. In the last quarter of 2015, shipments of smartwatches in the global market amounted to 8.1 million units (this is growth in 316% on an annualized basis). The same figure for Swiss mechanical counterparts is 7.9 million units.
The popularity of new products is growing rapidly in North America, Western Europe and Asia. In the global smartwatch market in Q4 2015, the share of Apple Watch was 63%. In second place is Samsung with a market share of 16%. Consumers choose Apple and Samsung products in every 8 out of 10 sales cases.
Cliff Raskind, Director of Strategy Analytics
Until now, Switzerland has been the world watch market leader, but in the fourth quarter of 2015, its market share decreased by 5% compared to the same period in 2014. Sales of Swiss timepieces have slowed and brands like Swatch are actively looking for new ways to improve sales. Neil MostonCEO of Strategy Analytics, credited the decline in sales to the popularity of smartwatches.
Representatives of the Swiss watch industry literally hid their heads in the sand in the hope that smartwatches would simply disappear. As a result, brands like TAG Heuer own just 1% of the smartwatch market in Q4 last year. The Swiss in this market are hard to keep up with the products of Apple, Samsung and other leaders in the production of wearable gadgets.
Neil Moston
The Connected model from TAG Heuer, which the analyst is talking about, went on sale in November last year. This is an Android Wear gadget in the luxury category, with a cost of $1500. The European manufacturer does not leave hope to return Connected customers to the true path — to a mechanical watch. They are invited to switch back to the mechanical version of the chronometer from TAG Heuer in a couple of years, exchanging a used smart gadget for it for an additional $1,500.
New Data from Strategy Analytics Confirms Research Findings Jupiter Researchpublished last month. According to Jupiter Research, over half of smartwatches sold in 2015 are Apple Watches. But there is no exact information on sales of this device, as the Cupertino-based company prefers to keep the details of the supply of its smartwatches secret.
While the Swiss are thinking about how to solve the problem, the world is waiting for the release of a new generation of Apple Watch. The release is expected in the second quarter of this year. The presentation should take place during the official event in March. [ai]