14 DAY TRIAL // So far, out of all the smartwatches looking to carve out a niche in the wearable ecosystem, the Pebble can be easily recognized as the one leaving a mark, despite being in competition with products like Sony Smartwatch 2 or Samsung Galaxy Gear.
However, the tide might shift for the company, because Google has just announced its own Android Wear OS, especially designed for wearables and especially smartwatches.
Now Pebble CEO, Eric Migicovsky spoke to Fortune, talking about his vision of the smartwatch market, how Android Wear will impact sales and development and what their plans are to keep maintaining afloat in the business.
He also made public some interesting pieces of information, including outing the fact that Pebble managed to sell over 400,000 units in 2013 and that the company holds high hopes of doubling the numbers in 2014.
And to highlight this, Migicovsky added that their employee numbers have been increased as well, indicating the company is looking to make more watches and focus even more on development.
He added the developer community has been very supportive. Just this week Pebble has taken the wraps off a whole host of games for the smartwatch. The company also recently rolled out the SKD 2.0 version, Pebble app store for iOS and Android (which already hosts more than 1000 apps live), thus creating a lofty environment for game creation.
So this week, Pebble introduced Mr. Runner, Icon Pop Quiz and Hatchi game, which allows users to transform their watch into an old-school Tamagotchi.
However, don’t think the company is making unrealistic plans for the future. It does take into account recent developments, like Google’s announcement of the wearable-dedicated OS.
But there’s nothing Pebble can do to counter the move, except putting their better efforts into creating the best products possible.
Pebble’s CEO also talked about some of the features we could see next-gen Pebble watches come bundled with, like for example the ability to control home appliances, cars and other electronics.
Migicovsky also hinted towards the likelihood of future Pebble watches being built of flexible materials, thus opening up the possibility the company’s new wearables might be in for a design overhaul.
“My dream watch would be something that is just screen, but we’re going to live with reality for a little while.”
All in all, Pebble’s CEO is pretty optimistic about the future and at this moment, why shouldn't he be, considering his project was once upon a time a simple Kickstarter project. And look at it now!