Re:Smartwatch sales are tanking
by nostrademons on Monday October 24, 2016 @06:07PM
(#12783340)
I think it's pretty clear that there is some group that is getting value out of smartwatches. The 1st-gen Apple Watch sold 10-20M units, which is more than all Apple 2 PCs combined. And many of those users are quite satisfied (I am).
The tricky part is that they face a crossing-the-chasm problem now. The initial group of users is happy - but does that generalize to all users? Is it worth continuing to invest money into what's currently a niche market? Tivos, Blackberries, WebTV, 1st-gen PCs all found success in an early adopter market that was roughly as large as the smartwatch market is now, but it took a major re-envisioning of the concept before they became a mainstream product that all customers wanted.
The tricky part is that they face a crossing-the-chasm problem now. The initial group of users is happy - but does that generalize to all users? Is it worth continuing to invest money into what's currently a niche market? Tivos, Blackberries, WebTV, 1st-gen PCs all found success in an early adopter market that was roughly as large as the smartwatch market is now, but it took a major re-envisioning of the concept before they became a mainstream product that all customers wanted.