Will Apple Watch Hit or Miss the Market?
I’m surprised by the Apple Watch strategy. I know the whole “iWatch” rumor has been around for awhile, but I still expected it would be some type of wearable accessory (like the Nike FuelBand or Jawbone UP), not a full-sized watch that would also serve as a watch replacement.
Like many people, I already wear a watch that I quite like. What if I don’t want a new watch, but I still want the benefits of a wearable companion to my iPhone? Seems like there is a much larger market for that than for people who want to also fully replace their watch with an Apple Watch.
Yes, there is a screen real estate issue and they want it to be large enough to be functional for the intended functions. Trade-offs would have to be made, for sure. But, some type of accessory that could be worn along with my watch wouldn’t force me to stop wearing my favorite watch (which I won’t do) so that I can get a wearable iPhone companion (which I unfortunately now won’t get).
The Apple Watch just doesn’t strike me as the mass-appeal accessory I was expecting. Maybe the strategy is different and it will hit the mark, but I don’t see it.
