News - Smartwatch market doubles in size, Samsung dominates

[HEXUS]

Samsung shipped 500,000 smartwatches during Q1 2014 (holds 71% of the market).

Read more.

[crossy]

Samsung is apparently ruling the smartwatch space, leading the pack with a 71 per cent market share, according to a report by research firm Strategy Analytics.

Isn't that about the same market share as Apple had at one point with iPad?

A previous IDC report predicts that wearable shipments should triple this year, and could hit 112 million shipments by 2018. Will this surge be due to the many upcoming smartwatches such as the Moto 360 and LG G Watch, both running on Google's OS designed for wearable devices, Android Wear, set to join the market in the next few months? Certainly Samsung's wearables have enjoyed little serious retail competition so far from the aforementioned Sony and Pebble or Qualcomm's underpublicized Toq.

I hope to heck that these other manufacturers CAN substantially cut the market share of Samsung. Me personally, I've got one of the really early Sony watches and it's - at best - okay. The Moto 360 on the other hand is something that I'd mark as "desirable".

Pebble and Toq I'd suggest haven't made much impact because they've got the usual blinders on - there's the US of A, and then there's that liddle bit o' land they call the rest of the world. Not really worth selling to that other bit.

Oh, and anyone trying to sell at £200 (or above) is going to get none of my money. For that kind of cash I want something decent with a Seiko badge on it!

[dfour]

Am I one of the few who couldnt care less about smart watches???

[virtuo]

Am I one of the few who couldnt care less about smart watches???

We seem to be rather rare, and probably valuable to poachers.

[crossy]

Am I one of the few who couldnt care less about smart watches???

Nope, I only bought one because it was at a very attractive price - the kind that makes you think "well, not much lost if this turns out to be naff".

Maybe it's just my podcast selection skewing things, but it seems like the American's are more interested in smart watches than us Brits. Same deal with Glass - from some of the US coverage you'd think it was the second coming.

[shaithis]

Smartwatch market doubles in size

Oh...a second person is interested now?

[HMS_Victory]

Am I one of the few who couldnt care less about smart watches???

Can't stand the things. Ugly low battery life and the I cant think of any reason to use it over a normal watch

[Saracen]

Am I one of the few who couldnt care less about smart watches???

We seem to be rather rare, and probably valuable to poachers.

If you are, I'm another one.

My bet is that most of those who bought, bought because of the "ooh, shiny new toy" idea, and they weren't that expensive as to be beyond the impulse buy range of many people.

I can certainly see how, given a few years development, the concept works. Personally, none of the models I've seen to date have appealed as something I'd want to be seen wearing. In fact, IMHO, they have the same relationship to an attractive watch that the love child of a mismatch between a horse's rear end and the back end of a bus does to a beauty contest.

If someone comes up with one that's useful, has appealing functionality, a decent price, and doesn't look like it was designed by someone that failed the Fisher Price School of Elegant Design entrance test, I might think about it. I'm not holding , my breath.

[Saracen]

Oh...a second person is interested now?

Dammit, beaten again. That was exactly my initial thought.

[scaryjim]

Smartwatch market doubles in size

Oh...a second person is interested now?

[crossy]

If someone comes up with one that's useful, has appealing functionality, a decent price, and doesn't look like it was designed by someone that failed the Fisher Price School of Elegant Design entrance test, I might think about it. I'm not holding , my breath.

I definitely won't be buying any of the "Gear" watches. However- and maybe it's just me - but

I thought looked quite appealing. At least it passes my "doesn't look like something bought from Toys R Us" test. I figure you can wear something like this and not have people point at you and think "Geek!". Best of all you can actually see the time - primary function of a watch - without having to press a button. And hopefully, unlike my Sony watch, it doesn't actually lose the time if you turn the partnered phone off.

Battery life though is the really "killer feature". Once a week charging is fine with me, but once a day is not going to have me rushing out to the shops to buy.