Swatch to enter smartwatch game

Now that we are in the smartwatch era, traditional watch makers are starting to feel threatened just a tad. Companies like Fossil, Citizen, Bulova, Rolex, and others will have to decide if they want to change their strategy. One such company isn’t waiting around. Swatch has already announced their intention to offer a smartwatch to compete with the likes of Apple and Google.

Chief Executive Officer Nick Hayek said, “Swatch will launch a new generation of its smart Swatch in the next two to three months.” Since smartwatches could slow sales of Swatch’s entry-level brand by as much as 10% and midrange brands (Tissot and Mido) by as much as 5%, this can’t be a surprise.

Now it’s unlikely to run Android Wear, but it appears Swatch won’t just offer something simple. The plan is for it to even include such things as mobile payments. It’s expected to be compatible with not only Android, but Windows too. I will be surprised if it isn’t compatible with iOS as well.

Swatch is waking up because of Apple. At first, they didn’t think much of Samsung’s Gear offerings or even Android Wear, but once Apple made it official, they started feeling the threat.

Would you be interested in a Swatch smartwatch?

source: WSJ

Come comment on this article: Swatch to enter smartwatch game