Looks like another company that will regret holding on to the past instead of embracing the future.
That's all I read.
A stupid decision if true. Especially for the Swatch brand which isn't what it was at one time.
Looks like another company that will regret holding on to the past instead of embracing the future.
As for high end swiss watches, I fully understand why they wouldn't want to mar their brand w/ Apple.
Wow. Who knew watchmakers were dumber and bigger luddites than the RIAA! I personally enjoy a nice watch but I'm an aging Gen X. Let's face it Millennials, as a generation, have no respect for watches.
Swatches were super cool when I was in HS but they are pretty much a collector's niche today. I never see anyone in their stores (unless the Apple Store in the same mall) or notice anyone wearing them (unlike people using Apple products). A little Apple magic couldn't hurt Swatch.
As for high end swiss watches, I fully understand why they wouldn't want to mar their brand w/ Apple.
Apple is in no position to take much sales away from high-end brands ($1,000+ range people wearing those have no interest in replace in them with a smartwatch), but if I were the head of a Swiss watch firm, I'd be concerned about the lower end of their market.
We've seen similar behavior before.
Apple:"Hai, we would like you to sell this new phone we've made."
Short Sighted Carrier: "mmmm, no thanks."
Now we see things like this: https://www.macrumors.com/2014/03/25/apple-500-million-iphones-sold/
Watch innovation is knocking on the door. They should offer to partner up.
Shows what you know. You really think Swatch only makes one type of watch? Swatch owns a myriad of other brands...
I could be a little wrong here, but I believe that Swatch, as it stands today, is the largest worldwide manufacturer of high-end watch movements...not simply the faux fashion plastic watches of the 80s. They have bought other huge Swiss movement companies, too. They literally control who gets Swiss movements and who doesn't.
Way to get some press....Oh, and a new mock-up please.
One imagines Mr Jobs would never have approached the watchmakers in such a crude fashion, with so little class or style. Sending an email to an employee is very in the box corporate, no imagination.
Apple's product will be circuit boards and sensors inside a case. What could a traditional watch maker offer?
This sounds like the story when Apple was trying to partner with cellphone carriers to launch the iPhone. Many refused and didn't believe it.
Shows what you know. You really think Swatch only makes one type of watch? Swatch owns a myriad of other brands...
I guess this "swatch" I'm wearing is the typical kind you were thinking of... Image
People will still buy old fashioned watches a few years from now .... just like they still buy typewriters today.
Watches work on the high end. Look at me! I wear an expensive watch! But it doesn't tell the time any better than a very inexpensive watch.
Connected watches have a lot of potential. But why confine it to a watch? Wouldn't it be more useful to have a Wonder Woman-sized digital bracelet with a decent screen size?
Apple's product will be circuit boards and sensors inside a case. What could a traditional watch maker offer?
And good for the current watch makers... there is no innovation in buying someone else's work and rebranding it as your own.
Do your own work Apple!
Never in your life time will you hear of the Olympics saying their official time keeper is Apple, Samsung, Google..... NEVER.
Question is, would Apple be interested in a partnership with other watch companies? Apples history is that they are control freaks and rather do things in-house - and I don't think that changed much under Tim Cook. They might buy components all over the place, but I don't think that is what these news articles are about ... they sound more like the watch makers want to get some headlines by throwing the word 'Apple' into the mix.
Swatches were super cool when I was in HS but they are pretty much a collector's niche today. I never see anyone in their stores (unless the Apple Store in the same mall) or notice anyone wearing them (unlike people using Apple products). A little Apple magic couldn't hurt Swatch.