Watch industry executives: Smart watches are too ugly

Watch industry executives: Smart watches are too ugly
Apple has hired Patrick Pruniaux, vice president of global sales and retail at TAG Heuer, a luxury watch brand owned by LVMH, the world's largest luxury group, as its newest executive, according to news on Friday. The company is speculating that Apple is developing a marketing campaign around the iWatch smartwatch. If the new Apple smartwatch executive has the same tastes as his boss at TAG Heuer, he must be aware that he faces some tough challenges in making the iWatch a sophisticated watch with mainstream appeal. Cheap, low-end plastic watches In fact, Pruniaux's job change is a bit surprising. Previously, many executives in the Swiss luxury watch industry had questioned the smartwatch market, with TAG Heuer CEO Stephane Linder being the most critical. "None of them impressed me in terms of design," Lindell said of smartwatches from companies such as Samsung, Sony, Qualcomm and Pebble. "They all look like cheap plastic watches. In the luxury space, we focus on every detail and create value. I find it interesting when I see smartwatches, but in terms of design, it looks like a cheap wrist computer. None of them combine the two well." Cheap, low-end and too "geeky" for fashion-conscious consumers are all criticisms of smartwatches by executives in the traditional luxury watch industry. Obviously, even Apple, a model of electronic product design, needs someone like Planioux to solve the inherent design problems of smartwatches, which have 2.5-inch digital displays instead of pointers on the screen. However, some luxury watch executives believe that today's smartwatches have some potential for development, and even Lindell himself has not completely ruled out the possibility of TAG Heuer launching a Swiss-made smartwatch in the future. Lack of exquisite design If the criticism is unanimous among watch industry insiders, it means that today's smartwatches do lack exquisite design and inherit too much design DNA from pure consumer electronics. Lindell, for example, said he thinks smartwatches should use more steel and offer better quality. Scott B. Wolfe, vice president of manufacturing, design and product development at Citizen, another well-known watch brand, is also a critic. Citizen has already entered the smartwatch field with the Proximity smartwatch, a high-tech watch with an analog dial. When the phone receives an email or a call, the second hand of the Proximity smartwatch can point to the corresponding icon on the dial. "I think they chose the path of least resistance," Wolfe said, referring to the round display of Motorola's Moto 360 smartwatch. "Now 90% of the watches we sell are round, so if you start with a non-round watch, it's definitely not a way to win." Wolfe praised the Moto 360 watch's "clean look" and beveled bezel design. Overall, he said, Motorola did the best job in pure design aesthetics, but he would reserve final judgment until he put the Moto 360 on his wrist and felt its materials. Casillas also gave the Motorola Moto 360 the best design award. "It's by far the best-looking product," he said. "It has the most minimalist and modern aesthetic and really conveys a premium feel similar to what you'd get from more expensive brands." Aside from the Moto 360, only the Pebble Steel smartwatch won over traditional watch industry executives on design. Wolfe said Pebble did a good job combining traditional leather and steel bands, and that the Pebble Steel's unique look is an eye-catcher in a world dominated by rectangular watches. Meanwhile, Casillas said the Pebble Steel, while not particularly attractive, is the second-best smartwatch he's seen. Two Very Different Industries Watch industry executives have a very different perspective than consumer electronics companies. Both make watches, and both are meant to display information that users need, but that's about as close as it gets. The two industries have very different pricing rules: A reasonable price for a smartwatch is no more than a $300 smartphone, but a luxury watch could cost you a year's salary. The two industries also have very different product cycles: The electronics industry favors planned obsolescence, which includes chip upgrades and style changes. But luxury watches must have timeless appeal. The two industries also have very different marketing strategies: For smartwatches, the main selling point is function, practicality, office use, and the next stage of mobile computing. For luxury watches, the emphasis is not even on telling the time, but on telling the world who you are through the watch you wear, perhaps the favorite watch of famous director Steve McQueen. But smartwatches have emerged and attracted widespread attention, and the luxury watch market has also paid attention, even if these luxury watch manufacturers never expected to compete directly with electronics manufacturers for the shrinking watch-wearing population. Wolfe said that smartwatches can rekindle interest in all kinds of watches, but Citizen will still focus on its own Eco-Drive technology, and Citizen will never work with companies like Google because the company "does not like to rely on third-party software," Wolfe said. Lindell, the Tag Heuer executive, is more open to the future of smartwatches. Tag Heuer has entered the smartwatch space, but only designed the Aquaracer AC72 series for the Oracle Team USA participating in the World Cup Sailing, and only produced a limited edition of 50 watches. These watches use a black and white display to present sailing information, such as wind direction and wind force. It can be seen that Tag Heuer is not opposed to the advancement of digital technology. In addition to producing limited edition Aquaracer watches, Lindell said his team is also studying smartwatches produced by Samsung and other manufacturers. Obviously, these studies will help Planioux, which has jumped to Apple, to improve the quality of iWatch. However, Lindell and Tag Heuer do not intend to sacrifice their style and simplicity to cover another completely different consumer group. "What does it take to be a luxury smartwatch?" Lindell asked, "What kind of functions are needed? This is the question we brainstorm. As long as we find the answer, we will try it. But we will not take too much risk unless we find a channel where luxury smartwatches are very close to real smartwatches, such as being easy to use, presenting uncomplicated smart information, and not copying mobile phones."

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.

<<:  Europe strikes back at Silicon Valley giants

>>:  Baidu enters the TV market: the foresight of a "latecomer"

Recommend

The peels of these 5 fruits are very nutritious, but you throw them away!

Do you usually peel the fruit before eating it? M...

Focusing on heart age, the world's first healthy heart watch UME Watch was launched in Beijing

As smart watches gradually become more popular, s...

The latest regulations on burials in 2022: Why are burials banned? When will it be restored?

In most rural areas of our country, people are ge...

What should I do if my boss suddenly asks me to work on a community group? 10 steps to build a community from 0 to 1!

1. Let me start with three points that I think ma...

To master fission, you also have to learn how to build a viral growth model!

Recently, the "fission" gameplay has be...

Why do beer bottle caps have 21 teeth?

Review expert: Luo Huiqian, researcher at the Ins...

World's oldest wild bird: At least 72 years old and still able to fall in love

Wisdom is back. Wisdom is a female Laysan albatro...

4 major live broadcast scripts, just apply them and you will be a hit!

With the popularity of live streaming e-commerce ...

Students can't eat snacks? The more nutrition you have, the taller you grow? Explain 8 misconceptions about student nutrition

Are foods labeled "children's food"...

What is China's national flower? Do the red beans in red bean smoothie represent lovesickness? Let's take a look at the secrets of plants

What is China's national flower? Do the red b...

XGIMI breaks the unspoken rule of white brightness in the projection industry and promotes qualitative change in experience with color brightness standards

The progress of an industry cannot be separated f...

I've learned a lot. It turns out that Android screen adaptation can be played like this

Why screen adaptation? Fragmentation Brand model ...

Is the probability of a wolf wanting to become the wolf king related to Toxoplasma? Research shows: The probability is 46 times higher

Produced by: Science Popularization China Author:...

9 major types of titles for soft copywriting!

For a soft text editor and operator, the importan...

【Girls' Emotions】Love Recovery Course

【Girls' Emotions】Recovering Love Theme Course...