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Jony Ive On iWatch: Switzerland is in Trouble

The only way Ive would have the guts to say such a thing is if Apple's iWatch is actually a piece of jewellery. Maybe with one side being a 'traditional' watch face with all the mechanics behind and on the other flipable side the digital iWatch.

So yeah, that, or Ive has lost it. Maybe Apple is trying to break into that aftermarket luxury stuff everyone else does off Apple's backs.
 
mozumder said:
There was an interview with one of the luxury watch vendors CEO back when the first digital watches came out in the 70's. The interviewer asked about the threatening competition from digital watches, and the CEO gave back the answer "We're not in the watch business. We're in the Jewelry business."

The Swiss watchmakers have nothing to worry about.
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There was an interview with one of the BlackBerry phone vendors CEO back when the first smart phones came out in the 00's. The interviewer asked about the threatening competition from smart phones, and the CEO gave back the answer "We're not in the phone business. We're in the pager-phone business."

The BlackBerry makers have nothing to worry about.
 
CmdrLaForge said:
From Apple I wish more for a sports watch then a luxury watch. One that I can use during running or biking or working in the garden.
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yupp, fully agree with that - I'm sure as heck not going to wear a smart watch when I go out. Even if it looks nice and is a premium product, I don't want to get auto-alerted on my wrist every time someone at Apple makes another one of these dumb-a**, arrogant comments while I'm having dinner with my wife.
 
Tycho24 said:
Maybe we will be able to buy a $100,000 band (or a $5 one; whatever tickles our fancy) and use it year after year, only changing the face.
THEN would you Rolex snobs be willing to buy one?????
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There is no such thing as a $100,000 band. The valuation of the watch is based on the exclusivity and manufacture of the movement mostly.

Tourbillon, unique complications and complex escapements are the ones commanding $100-350,000. Not the strap.

Thus the appeal. For example, there are some movements using 300 yr old technology that can tell you the phases of the moon, days of the week (accounting for 28 day months, leap years), etc all using mechanical rotors and nothing more. Imagine that a Swiss elf could give the most accurate date/time of the week and what the moon phase will be in the year 2314 when we had computer problems with integer and bad compute dates before Y2K.

You can't replicate that zig-zag maze of machinery in any electronic form.
It is the appeal in the microscopic machinery and precision of actual hardware.
 
scottsjack said:
I am only one consumer and I speak only for myself. I have just about had enough of the Tim and Jony Show. The magic is just about gone.
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You are free to leave. Watch out for the door on the way out, I'd hate for it to get scuffed.
 
IF an Apple employee said this I hope that person has a full savings account. I can't imagine there are that many contenders so it should be easy to figure out who to fire
 
Apple needs something big as the 'best pipeline in 25 years" has been nothing short of lackluster.
 
cgc said:
I'd say if Apple doesn't release something amazing on the computer-side then they are in trouble. They set the stage early this year with their ridiculous statement, "this is the best product pipeline in 25 years" then they release under-specced, under-performing, overpriced, and ugly items. Computer update to something modern or I and from the sounds of it, many others ditch Apple and move on. Tim Cook has been a huge letdown...
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And get what? Its Intel dragging their feet, not Apple. Maybe you should take it with them.
 
bedifferent said:
Not a chance. High end watches are an investment; many such as Rolex hold their value or in some instances limited editions can appreciate. An electronic device that will most likely have yearly updates won't hold its value. Well crafted time pieces such as Jaeger-LeCoultre, Rolex, Breitling, Patek Phillipe, etc are investment jewelry timepieces from Switzerland that sell based on reputation, status, quality, fashion, etc. Unless Rolex or another high end watch maker joined Apple to produce a $8k+ model line, not many I know would replace their time piece with another gadget - basically it's apple and oranges. Sure it'll sell well, it's an Apple product, but I suppose in my circle and age range I can't see myself wearing a rebranded Casio.

If this "watch" is more akin to a band a la "UP24", Nike and FitBit, I could see people wearing it on their other wrist. If it's a full on watch, it has to blow people away with a lot of useful features and not just another ho-hum gadget. It won't replace my '13 Rolex GMT Master II Black and Blue bezel, nor my "Coke" Red and Black edition from the mid-90's, nor any of my time pieces.
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I am struck by the number of people with multiple high end watches saying, "an iWatch will never replace my...."

Of course not. But instead of buying another mechanical watch, how about some trifle for the gym, or something that makes life easier at work. I would be surprized if a lot of people with high end watch boxes don't pick up a comparatively cheap iWatch. "It will never replace my Rolex of course, but I find it amusing."
 
This is just a rumor quoting a 2nd hand source so rather hard to judge Ive based on it.

However it's surprising to see that so many are blind to see the obvious potential for disruption with watches. There's only limited space on a wrist. A person almost always doesn't wear more than one watch. Yes there are those who wear multiple watches but that's rather rare.

The rumored iWatch surely has to look good and certainly has to do better than the current watches. However what it really has to do is to provide a compelling reason to wear it all the time, a "killer app".

Once that's been provided, the existing watch makers will be very easily disrupted because again, most simply will not wear more than one watch at a time and even those who care about fashion statements will not go back to "dumb" watches.

The question is what that killer app is and if Apple or other smartwatch makers can figure it out. But if that function is there, then yes, "Switzerland" will really be in trouble.
 
iWatch: Sapphire display, tourbillon and atmos powered with iOS, $500,000 price tag. Sounds good to me. :p
 
DanielSw said:
You sound like Ballmer's reaction to the iPhone and iPad. Arrogance. Look what happened to him and to Microsoft.
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He sounds like everyone who said the traditional Swiss watch makers would survive the Quartz Crisis. And they were right.
 
It wasn't enough Apple destroyed the watch in general once.

Now they are gonna destroy them again lol.
 
Gasu E. said:
You should not just read the first paragraph of an article--you might miss the point. The interview you cite happened on the eve of the "Quartz Crisis" of the 1970s, which reduced the Swiss watch industry by over 60%. The interview is cited as an example of business myopia. It actually supports exactly the opposite of the point you seem to be trying to make. :p
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You've got it backwards. The reduction of the Swiss watch industry happened by means of their cheap watches disappearing and the expensive ones staying around and getting better than ever.

A new generation of Chinese electronic watches would certainly spell doom for those low-end Swiss watches, if they were still being produced. But they're not still being produced, that shakeout already happened. Those Swiss watches that are still being produced are not in a market segment that the iWatch will be addressing.
 
MarkusL said:
You've got it backwards. The reduction of the Swiss watch industry happened by means of their cheap watches disappearing and the expensive ones staying around and getting better than ever.
..........
Those Swiss watches that are still being produced are not in a market segment that the iWatch will be addressing.
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You have to see the limitation of the role served by those expensive watches though. Let's assume just for the argument's sake that Apple manages to make a smartwatch with features so good that many people cannot live without, just like the current smartphones.

Once that compelling reason is given, it doesn't matter how nice the current expensive watches are as fashion accessories. People will wear the smartwatches for their functionality, and that means giving up on wearing non-smartwatches because fashion-wise it's not very fashionable to wear more than one watch on your wrist.

Finding that compelling reason is really really difficult and Apple might not be able to do it successfully. However if they do find it, the expensive watches will lose by being disrupted. It's not because the iWatch will be a better fashion accessory than an expensive (insert your favorite watch brand here) but because it serves another role that makes the incumbents unable to compete. A very classic disruption.
 
Well, I hope that Apple won't start making chocolate any soon. Would hate to see my beloved Switzerland's economy ruined :p

P.S. I have never wore a watch and I frankly see no point in them, but its quite entertaining to walk on the Bahnhofstrasse (the exclusive shopping street in Zurich) and look at all the ridiculously priced watches in the vitrines ;)
 
usarioclave said:
Apple said the same thing about the mobile phone industry, and look how wrong they were. Maybe they can be wrong twice in a row.

For those whining about Apple's 'arrogance', you can stay back in the days of DOS. Apple's always thought it could do better. The history of human civilization is a demonstration of the ridiculous arrogance of humanity. Without that, we'd be living in the dirt like monkeys do.
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I know some really arrogant monkeys.
 
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