14 DAY TRIAL // Even if most consumers are trying to decide whether or not they need a smartwatch in their lives, most brand vendors could swear that intelligent timekeepers are what gets people hot.
This could be the explanation of why we've witnessed tremendous product growth in the ecosystem for the past year.
As Gartner notes, nine out of 10 smartphones vendors have entered the wearable market or are about to start shipping out their first products from the category (as spotted at Arnnet).
Smartwatch market has exploded in the past year
In contrast, a year ago only two vendors had ventured to release products from this category. After only 12 months, the ecosystem seems to have dramatically changed and already seems a bit saturated.
Gartner says that, even if products such as the Sony Smartwatch and original Samsung Galaxy Gear received a lot of attention in the media, they were greeted with less enthusiasm by the consumer base who was ambivalent about the potential such devices might have.
Customers were also unimpressed by the scarce app ecosystem and bulky, flawed design. But fast forward into 2014 and we’re seeing a lot of improvements on all fronts.
For starters, Android Wear brings extensive functionalities thanks to Google Now and a rich app portfolio. Furthermore, the watch design has been refined and offerings such as the Moto 360 and ASUS ZenWatch actually look aesthetically pleasing.
But an aspect that continues to keep customers at bay is the expensive price tag. Apple’s Watch is expected to retail for $349 / €274, while the Samsung second-gen Gear 2 watch with Tizen retails for $299 / €235.
Current Android Wear products retail for around $199 / €156, but that’s still a lot for some consumers out there.
Android Wear will go budget in 2015
However, this might change in 2015 because as the smartwatch market accelerates, Chinese OEMs will start making their presence known in the field.
According to Gartner, next year we might see Android Wear-based smartwatches arrive on the market with extremely affordable price tags. They will bundle decent designs and sensor and will retail for around $30 / €23.
So the gap between traditional timepieces and intelligent ones will be shrinking more and more. As customers realize smartwatches offer more in terms of functionalities for basically the same price, the market will certainly grow.
Also even if Apple’s Watch offers a lot of novelties in terms of design, hardware and software, its high price tag will probably keep a lot of customers at bay who will re-orient themselves towards the Android Wear market.