Developing smart wearables: Don’t blindly follow the “industry giants”

Text/Chen Gen

During the Cold War, the Reagan administration launched the "Star Wars" plan, which intensified the arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union blindly responded to the war and eventually paid a heavy price. Ten years later, Reagan's conspiracy was exposed to the world and the "Star Wars" plan itself was just a scam.

In fact, this phenomenon also exists in business wars. The most terrifying opponent is when you concentrate your troops and resources on A and are ready to beat him up, but find that he is leisurely drinking tea at B.

In the field of smart wearables, I think there are still some mysteries that need to be cleared up. This is because the direction of this industry is led by large foreign companies, and most of our local companies are following them. However, once we follow the development logic of others, the direction of China's local smart wearable industry may go astray.

For example, some time ago, Google acquired Nest, and Chinese home furnishing stocks soared, and many people shouted that the era of smart home is coming. But judging from the logic of Google's subsequent series of acquisitions, Google's real purpose is to seek a big data platform, aiming to bind users in the mobile Internet era. If you invest heavily in the field of smart home at this time, the consequences are unimaginable.

At present, many domestic manufacturers are also developing the smart wearable industry, and there are three main paths: one is to follow the path of wearable devices represented by traditional communication companies such as Samsung, that is, smart wearable products based on communication; one is to follow the path of wearable devices represented by traditional sports and entertainment companies such as Nike, that is, smart wearable products based on sports and entertainment; the third is smart wearable based on health and medical care.

Among the three industrial development paths, there are currently many smart wearable devices based on communication, but it seems difficult for such products to get rid of their dependence on mobile phones. Similar to Apple's iWatch, it is more like a supplement to the iPhone and an expansion of the functions of other devices, making it more convenient for users to use Apple devices, but it has not really tapped the charm of smart wearables.

In my opinion, if we look at the essence, the charm of smart wearables lies in its significance as an entry point.

The history of the development of the Internet is a history of approaching users and competing for entrances. Whoever owns the entrance is equivalent to occupying a place in the user's private property. From the early Microsoft Windows to Yahoo and Google, to today's smartphones and future smart wearables, they are following this rule: the closer you are to users, the closer you are to success.

The commercial essence of smart wearable devices is to change our lives by promoting big data based on demand and binding with people.

Based on this essence, we must first find the real "pain points" of mass consumers and meet their real needs, especially in terms of user experience. From this point of view, smart wearables based on health care have more commercial value. Especially in China, medical resources are unbalanced, and it is difficult to solve the problem of "difficulty in medical treatment" under the three-level medical system. If smart wearables are used for health management and monitoring, the market space is very huge.

Looking at the history of industrial transformation and development in the world, new entrants usually become the biggest beneficiaries in the new development cycle. For example, when film cameras changed to digital cameras, Danone replaced Kodak; when smart phones overturned mechanical phones, Apple and Xiaomi replaced Nokia and Motorola. I believe that smart wearables will replace mobile phones and become the center of the future world, but the leaders of this round of business trends may not be the current Internet giants, but rather those innovative companies that focus on user needs and experience.

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.