Samsung Sells Just 50,000 Galaxy Gear Smart Watches, Exec Says Product is Unripe [Updated]

[MacRumors]

Samsung's Galaxy Gear has not been selling well, according to a new report from BusinessKorea. First launched in September, the $299 smart watch has been purchased less than 50,000 times and has received largely negative reviews.

With daily sales reaching just 800 to 900 units, Galaxy Gear sales are falling below initial industry expectation, despite an aggressive marketing campaign from Samsung.

During Business Insider's Ignition conference in NYC, Samsung EVP David Eun spoke about the Galaxy Gear smart watch, lauding the company for being first to market and promising great things in the future. He compared the Galaxy Gear to a green tomato that would ripen over time.

When you're dealing with innovation and when you're dealing with startups, I always make the analogy to small green tomatoes. What we're dealing with is small green tomatoes and what we want to do is take care of them and work with them so they can become big red ripe tomatoes.

And what you want to be sure is that you don't pluck the green tomato too early and you want to make sure you don't criticize a small green tomato for not being a big red ripe tomato.

It's a 1.0 device. I like it a ton. It's 1.0. Personally, I don't think enough people gave us the credit for innovating and getting it out there. Not easily done to integrate all this functionality into one thing. But I would also say over time this thing is going to get big and red.

While Samsung is the first major electronics company to come out with a smart watch aside from Sony, other tech companies, like Apple and Google, are also working on developing their own smart watch products which could compete with future offerings from Samsung.

Apple's iWatch is said to incorporate several health-monitoring functionalities, along with a full version of iOS. Recent rumors have indicated that it could come in multiple sizes, combating the bulkiness issue that plagued the Galaxy Gear.

Though Samsung's Galaxy Gear product is already on the market, Apple has reportedly opted to hold off on releasing its iWatch as the company works to solve battery life issues. The Galaxy Gear launched with a single day battery life, but Apple is aiming for a battery life of at least four to five days.

Apple is supposedly preparing to launch its iWatch in late 2014, and began filing trademarks for the product earlier this year. The company is also said to be focusing most of its resources on wearables, delaying its ongoing television plans.

Update: According to a report from Reuters, Samsung announced on Tuesday that it had sold 800,000 Galaxy Gear watches since the device's debut two months ago. Yonhap reports [Google Translate] that the 50,000 number referred to South Korea alone.

Article Link: Samsung Sells Just 50,000 Galaxy Gear Smart Watches, Exec Says Product is Unripe [Updated]

 

[ct2k7]

50,000 is better than none.

 

[Menopause]

Make "me first!" copycat crap, that's what you get.

 

[Sky Blue]

unripe? more like rotten.

 

[maxwelltech]

Excepted, given that it is just a $300 accessory.

 

[diddl14]

Not bad for a product that is practically unusable.

 

[MRU]

I guess folks who just bought a Note 3 with a fantastic 5.7" 1080p screen would rather use that to check messages directly than look at a tiny little screen and then pull out the phone to reply anyway........

----------

50,000 is better than none.

I'm guessing your a glass 'half full' kind of person

 

[Oui]

Except Apple will sell at least that many, launch day of their iWhatever.

 

[pramirez95]

Woah

I'm surprised they got that high to begin with.

 

[tevion5]

Silly other company.

You may overtake Apple in a new market, but only after Apple has solidified it first

 

[oplix]

If they just waited for Apple, they would have sold a few million. Typical Samsung trying to Out-Apple, Apple.

 

[DarkWinter]

'...over time this thing is going to get big and red.'

Sounds like either a 'That's what s/he said' joke or something you ought to see a doctor about.

 

[Goldenswo140]

Even with Samsung's extensive marketing i am not surprised at all. The fact is you have to pay $299 for a device with such limited functionality and that has to be connected to your already pricey smartphone is not something people will do in this economy. Until we see a cheaper price i do not see this product taking off anytime soon.

 

[diddl14]

Except Apple will sell at least that many, launch day of their iWhatever.

Yes, but only if iWhatever totally sucks.

 

[skaertus]

Why does anybody need a smartwatch, if it is supposed to do the same things that a smartphone does? None of the smartwatches released so far impressed me. All of them are dumbed-down versions of smartphones. In this sense, a smartphone can be sort of a pocket smartwatch... I don't need another one, just to be carried on my wrist.

 

[Crzyrio]

It will be interesting to see Apple's take on the Watch and if Samsung will 'adapt' to what apple comes out with if they do.

 

[taptic]

Fell out of my chair when I read this... unbelievable! How could such an amazing product be overlooked by so many buyers?!

 

[ellsworth]

Apple will be watching these numbers closely and will definitely poke fun of it once they develop whatever it is they're working on...

Oh and for Samsung to parade around saying they're the first to make such a watch: It think Seiko/Epson were the first. The Pager watch didn't do as well when it was first released and only had one revision if I can remember correctly.

People just don't want to walk around talking to their wrists like they're crazy, because they already look crazying hunched over aimlessly watching their phones like chimps already.

 

[Xerotech]

Pebble>Galaxy

 

[dacreativeguy]

They had a cool commercial... but so does Jack in the box and I'd never eat that ****!

 

[roadbloc]

Unripe? Still not convinced. I hope them 50,000 people who bought one enjoy charging their watch up every day.

 

[3bs]

To the people saying price is the reason or part of it, how much do you think Apple will charge for their watch?

 

[Ryth]

I have a better analogy that relates to something that is small...but it's sure not ripe and sure is smelly.

Personally, I don't think enough people gave us the credit for innovating and getting it out there. Not easily done to integrate all this functionality into one thing. But I would also say over time this thing is going to get big and red.

This CEO is just a joke.

Your watch is an abysmal failure. You just put it out to try to beat Apple to it so you could have some legal recourse after you copy whatever Apple puts out and so you can saw "BUT WE DID IT FIRST...SEE SEE!!!"

Innovating? Are you kidding? Apple had this in their NANO years ago other then the link to the iPhone. You didn't innovate anything. You copied the NANO.

I hate Samsung so much.

 

[Oui]

They had a cool commercial... but so does Jack in the box and I'd never eat that ****!

OH please!

 

[kemal]

Samsung needs Apple to do the base R&D on the product category.