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Apple Watch Loses Market Share as Android Wear Grows in Popularity
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Well, okay then!
As I say mine is now 3 years old and is working perfectly. I think the battery life has shortened from 5-6 days to 4 now though so its showing signs of getting old.
I did own an Apple Watch but I took it back after a week, it was just before Watch OS2 so I was running a beta of it. It just didn't do it for me - no waterproofing and its short battery life was the kicker for me. Taking calls on it was neat.
Better looking, would be nice. Seen without the "fashion bands", its just a typical Ive shiny rounded rectangle.
Reminds me of the tale of the "Emperor's New Clothes". Some praise it, while others go, "What the heck?!"
With past products such as the iPhone and iPad, fan concepts were usually outdone by the actual product design. I don't think that happened in the case of the Watch.
Reminds me of the tale of the "Emperor's New Clothes". Some praise it, while others go, "What the heck?!"
With past products such as the iPhone and iPad, fan concepts were usually outdone by the actual product design. I don't think that happened in the case of the Watch.
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The attempt to increase sales comes at a cost for any business. It could
I'm not saying Apple doesn't want a larger market share, but Wallstreet inferring that the market share leader is the most successful brand / company, is just false. You can be both market leader and highly profitable, but Apple has also shown that they can be the minority market share holder and be FAR more profitable than those who have the lion's share of the market (in volume).
Any company that pushes to be market leader, at the expense of profitability, will likely fail, unless they can find ways to significantly cut costs / streamline in order to gain back profit points.
I agree with you to some point. Apple has shown with the market share they have .....they can be extremely profitable.
Apple has the best selling smartphone in the world the iphone. It is the single best selling smartphone model in the world. Apple derives about 68% of it profits from the iphone. But the IOS platform has never been the world's most popular. That would be Android. Apple cannot grow their profits without selling iphones. The more iphones they sell the more money they make. Sales are tied directly to market share. The more sales you have....generally means you have increased market share. The less sales you have the less profit you make from those sales. Which generally leads to less market share. Apple is losing sales YoY from almost all of its product line......Macs, iPads, iPhones. Market share affects profits in a number of ways. Firstly coincides with loss of sales and profits. Then it also hurst stock price and valuations.
But it is not doom and gloom for Apple...they have what 200B in cash reserves. So they can weather the storm for a while......
Opinions about the looks are very subjective. I don't like it very much and I know a lot of others share my opinion but I don't think all those who do like how it looks are praising it solely because it's an Apple product. It's made to Apple's usual standards, it's comfortable on the wrist and looks and feels like a good quality product. I just don't like the shape of the case and think it's a bit bland looking.
To me it's the one product in the Apple range where the single design with size and finish variations doesn't work. I'm not saying they should get rid of the rectangular design but I would like them to offer alternative design options which myself and others might find more attractive.
Thats the feeling. There were some really amazing designed fan mockups. The expectations for a real fashion piece was there. They propped it up as a fashion changing. And then they super doubled down on Fashion media marketing.
You'd expect a company who is going to claim fashion first would have done more than slap a square screen between watch straps.
Is it well built? YES. Can it be useful and functional? Absolutely for some. There seems to be a market, albeit not the biggest one, but it's there, for smart watches.
But Apple's design look lazy and grossly under-engineered. Does it have to be Circle to look great? no, but you have to do more than take a square screen, slap a gold border on it and call it fashion. If you look at square watches that do exist, they don't look like square black slabs with a border. They're intricately designed and offer a lot more fashion behind it. More than just replaceable watch straps.
Want me to buy one though?
1. Round (personal preference)
2. Thinner (I'm usually not one to want thinner jsut for thinner sake, but the Apple watch needs to be thinner. So do most Android wear ones, it's currently the biggest issue. Batteries are the cause of this
3. Android Compatible. I don't want an iPhone. Its' not the device for me. I do have iOS device (iPad), but I would consider a $300 Round Apple watch that could work with Android. the Apple Watch isn't going to convince me to buy an iPhone. (Apple needs to do that by fixing issues with iOS I have)
at the end of the day, for a smart watch fit into my life it has to have the following priorities
1. Looks First. Watches to me are fashion items first. I don't wear any jewelry, except a watch. I'e worn a steelband analogue watch my entire life (A few of them over the years). They jsut tell time. Trust me, I don't wear it cause its super useful / practical. I wear it cause I like the feeling of the weight on my writs, and I like the ability to look at the time in 1 second or less. if The Watch doesn't LOOK like a good quality watch first, I'm not going to consider buying it. And IMHO, The Apple watch doesn't look like it.
2. Fast interactions. I don't want a watch that has complexity to the menues and system. Watches are to meant to be looked at in periods of 1-3 seconds. glances. If you want to look / use complications outside of your standard screen, you should be able to get to them and use them in that time. if it takes longer to look something up on the watch than pulling out the phone, then it failed at it's only job.
3. Lengevity. A watch needs to be "timeless". or as reasonably close to it. If I bought a watch today, I want to know that 5 years from now, I'm not throwing it out because the battery can no longer hold a cycle, or the software has been crippled limited. A fear I have for Gen 1 Apple watch.
Hmmm, and how much in cash reserves did Enron have? I think most people can remember what happened with them. Apple claims to have large cash reserves, but does their behaviour indicate that this is true, or quite the opposite?
To me, something isn't quite right in the world of Apple at the moment.
Although it's normal that this forum reflects the views of pure Apple Devotees, I must say that some seem to be grasping at straws when claiming Apple Watch as superior.
Especially as compared to the dept and breadth of Smartwatches powered by the fast and reliable Android OS. With a wealth of choices, price points and feature sets, AW is hard pressed to measure up.
With the "Tank Watch" style Apple copied, a design dating back to 1917 there's certainly nothing new about it.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartier_Tank
Especially as compared to the dept and breadth of Smartwatches powered by the fast and reliable Android OS. With a wealth of choices, price points and feature sets, AW is hard pressed to measure up.
With the "Tank Watch" style Apple copied, a design dating back to 1917 there's certainly nothing new about it.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartier_Tank
The current watch will be offered for $199 & $249 when the Second gen is launched. Just like the iPhones. That will be the entry level watch.
It would seem so huh? I think it is a lack of focus and direction since SJ passed tbh.
I don't think it looks anything like the Tank. The front is just Jon Ive repeating himself:
The rest is all co-designer Marc Newson, repeating his 1990s designs, from the back:
to the replaceable and sport bands:
to even the Sport's boxing shape, with slips to hold bands:
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I think you must have smoked your breakfast today. The Sport model starts at $299 for the 38, which is too small for most men's wrists.
To me, it's obvious how Apple completely takes over the market. Make Apple Watch 2 smart-band compatible and allow third parties to make the bands. If you want a fitness watch, buy a gps band. If you want a stand-alone watch, buy a cellular band. And make it available this year. And charge less.
Apple would then take over the world.
I can't disagree with what you're saying, but isn't that how all businesses work? If I was a company releasing a product I would want to maximize the **** out of it. Wouldn't you? Not sure why people begrudge Apple trying to profit; that's their responsibility as a publicly traded corporation.
I usually buy first generation Apple products but I passed on the Apple Watch. It is very over-priced for what it is. Unlike most Apple devices it does not have that top-shelf look and feel.
Johnny Ive is apparently a huge fan of watches and owns several very high end pieces... so it is a bit of a head scratcher on why he came up with such a lackluster design as the Apple watch. Rectangle, really? I might expect that from Pebble (and I have one of those for running & mountain biking) but I expect more from Apple.
I wear a pretty nice Omega watch right now and I don't want to feel like I'm putting something 3rd rate on my wrist to wear the apple watch but that's exactly what it looked and felt like when I tried it on.
Johnny Ive is apparently a huge fan of watches and owns several very high end pieces... so it is a bit of a head scratcher on why he came up with such a lackluster design as the Apple watch. Rectangle, really? I might expect that from Pebble (and I have one of those for running & mountain biking) but I expect more from Apple.
I wear a pretty nice Omega watch right now and I don't want to feel like I'm putting something 3rd rate on my wrist to wear the apple watch but that's exactly what it looked and felt like when I tried it on.
I've seen this exact same post before, maybe even by you, and still not sure what the point is. That designers borrow from their own designs? It happens on a regular basis. Ever seen Frank Gehry's work? How about Picasso's? Porsche?
I don't think anyone is saying that it looks like a Tank beyond the fact that it has the same basic shape. When I personally use the Tank comparison it's to point out that the Apple Watch doesn't automatically need to be round just to suit someone's limited knowledge of watch shapes.
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