“Set to launch early this year, we expect the Apple Watch to prove a meaningful new product, adding 4% to Apple’s calendar 2015 estimated revenue and accounting for 36% of its growth (iPhone still more than 60%), but more so helping boost its price/earnings multiple as the company proves it can lead another new product category with unique competitive advantages and premium positioning that others will find tough to match,” Evercore writes for Barron’s.
“Two of the biggest hurdles for smartwatches are: 1) their small usable size; and 2) their questionable fashion style, but these two vectors are exactly where we think Apple most shines — with proven ability to develop intuitive software user interfaces and design tech products that are as fashionable as they are functional,” Evercore writes. “We think focusing on smartwatch specs misses this fashion intangible, likely the most important factor in ultimate adoption, yet we see Apple as the one company that could make smartwatches cool.”
Evercore writes, “A broader market for the Internet of Things wearables is looking to emerge, yet in many ways we think still waiting for Apple’s lead.”
Read more in the full article here.
> their small usable size
That is THE “biggest hurdle,” because with current technology, it’s not possible to squeeze an adequate level of “smartness” into something that is called a “watch.” That’s why devices that are called “smartwatch” have not been massively popular (so far); they are not smart enough to be worthwhile.
Apple blows away this limitation by requiring the Apple Watch customer to have an iPhone (5 or later). Because Apple Watch is “powered by iPhone” (and integrally connected), it can do things that far surpass the basic functionality of any “independent” device that is currently called a “smartwatch.” And because iPhone is doing the heavy-lifting, third-party developers can expand the functionality of Apple Watch beyond what Apple provides as built-in features. Other smartwatches are mostly “what you buy is what you get forever” (the equivalent of old-school “feature phones”).
Imagine what Apple and its army of developers can create for the iPhone experience using Apple Watch’s always visible secondary screen, touch (and “digital crown”) input, “haptic” feedback, and multiple sensors. iPhone customers will consider it a must-have “upgrade” for their iPhone. Maybe not all of them, but if even 10% decide to get an Apple Watch, it’s a HUGE success. 20% (just one in five customers with iPhone 5 or later) would be astonishing.
And the best part is that ONLY Apple can create a (viable) product that works like Apple Watch.
Apple’s Google Glass
Nice technical exercise without a broad market. Just as ugly.
If Apple actually did a “Google Glass,” it would be another extension of the iPhone customer experience. It looks like “normal” eyewear (or like a Bluetooth earpiece with a tiny camera or two). It provides iPhone with a user-eye view of the world; iPhone does the “heavy-lifting.” The key problem (and limitation) of Google’s Google Glass is that it’s an independent device, so it looks like something only a “nerd” wants to wear.
iPhone, the HUB of wearable computing.
I have seen a Google Glass user in person. There is no comparison – Google won the ugly battle years ago.
I like my pebble. My main use is to read texts and preview email. Since my iPhone 6 is a bugger to get to if I’m sitting at my desk and it’s in my pocket. If Apple can make it do more than that and have it be practical. They will make some huge debts in this new market. Pebbles days will be numbered unless they work the low cost Costco angle as they are entering into as we speak.
Several observers have pooh-poohed “convenience” as Apple Watch’s killer feature.
Yet it was just that, “convenience,” that made the iPhone itself a killer product: it placed massive computing power on your person, to be accessed on the go. Once, you made mental notes and waited to do a web search or send an email when you got home. How convenient to do such things on the spot!