Apple is widely expected to unveil its widely rumoured ‘iWatch’ at next week’s special event along side the launch of iPhone 6, and it seems that its competitors like Samsung and LG are hoping that the Cupertino giant’s wearable succeeds in defining what a “wearable” is, something the companies have failed to do so far, Reuters is reporting.
Tech executives have admitted at IFA in Berlin this week that they look forward to Apple “crack the missing code” for everyone with its ‘iWatch’. “If Apple offers its own product, it will expand the market,” said Sung-jin Lee, Director of LG’s watch product planning team. Similarly, Sunny Lee, CEO of Samsung, when asked about Apple’s likely debut of a wearable said, “this is what we wanted”.
“So far tech companies have struggled to impress consumers in part because younger generations who rarely wear watches but glance at their phones instead don’t see the point of a wrist-worn accessory unless it can do something a phone can’t. Apple’s arrival promises to bring fashion sense and sleek design to a market that so far has emphasized the technology inside their products rather than its outward usability or aesthetics. “We are in the Stone Age of wearables right now,” said Wood – a self-confessed wearables geek who has 15 such devices strewn on the floor of his office”.
Samsung, the current smartwatch market leader with 74% share, has so far launched five watch models including one which can make and receive phone calls without linking to a nearby phone. The Korean company’s closest competitor is Pebble, which holds 13% of the smartwatch market.
