Swatch Working on Apple Watch Competitor With Custom-Made OS and Better Battery Life

DOA.

Better battery life is required for Apple Watch. At the very least 7 days use. So annoying having to charge it or find it depleted.

WatchOS isn't optimized.

iOS 10 on my ipad seriously depletes battery life. Was perfect on iOS 7.

The OS just isn't optimized.

Which specific aspects of the OS are in need of further optimization? Or do you just have a simplistic model in your head of "I had to plug my device in sooner than I'd like to so the OS must need optimization?"

Because we all know and love when companies decide to use homemade smart-TV software, so why would watches be any different?

Better battery life is required for Apple Watch. At the very least 7 days use. So annoying having to charge it or find it depleted.

(Are you being serious? I can’t tell.)

I have not one problem with my AW2’s battery life. Even yesterday, after wearing it for 17 hours (including running 14 miles), I still had over 40% battery life when I removed the watch and set it on my bedside charger.

Only if the watch were tracking sleep, would it currently need longer battery life. And even then, I believe Apple would come up with a much better solution than having to wear a device on one’s wrist. I sleep with nothing on. I’m certainly not going to wear a watch to bed!

As I've been writing in these and watch related forums these last few years since the Apple Watch 0 came out, wearables, the Apple Watch in particular would take IIRC 25% of the Watch market within 2 years. I've not gone back to look at the statistics but with the AW being the 2nd best selling brand after Rolex, the penetration must be significant.

In the beginning, the AW was marketed high to so that it would offer aspirational qualities. The gold watches and link to fashion were part of this (the other part was to have something available for wealthy and stylish folks that might avoid a geeky plebeian aluminum or stainless wrist computer.). All this was to assure initial success in the Battle for the Wrist. This was about buzz building and it worked. The gold was retired. Now the ceramic is there for a tech and style crowd (think Rado).

Now, By keeping mildly upgrading the performance of the original design and having it at a price point below the original design Apple has created access to the budget constrained end of the market (youth, businesses, insurance) by targeting other wearables.

At the upper market end, Apple will continue to conquest the timepiece/jewelry segment and at the lower end it will bring the aforementioned budget customers into the market. This alone will continue erode the businesses of traditional watchmakers as well as the newer wearable firms.

When you add into the mix the stickiness of Apple's h/w s/w Services ecosystem, the potential breadth and depth of penetration of the virtuous cycle opportunity standing before Apple (and the likelihood of vicious cycles against the watch/wearable manufacturers) is amazing and set to accelerate as more features and better performance come and things like IoT become more prevalent.

Nick's attempts here, first the Bellamy and now this are about all a watchmaker can do, but I don't think what are pale competitors, on the tech content, will be enough to stem the tide. It's kind of like adding acetylene lamps onto your coaches even as the motorcar is increasing in popularity. Aping a specific functionality on an increasingly obsolete technical platform, can be no savior or growth avenue, it is a delaying tactic at best.

Additionally, I don't think Nick's secondarily offered USP of security can move the needle against Apple; only a fool would claim that they might develop better security than Apple. It can only realistically be a dig against Android (because lousy Android security) but if a (normal person, not super anti-walled-garden technogeeks) person is really serious about security they probably are on iOS already and are unreachable or will grow unreachable as the AW matures and the iOS users buy their next wrist device.

As a boy, I always wanted an Omega because Moon & Olympics... as an adult, I've had two nice Omega's but in a daily basis I wear my Apple Watch. ((What comes in the future when a kid today hears of a custom NASA Apple Watch on the ISS (acrylic crystal instead of glass) or the first manned SpaceX or BlueOrigin flight? Or hears the USOC is using the AW to improve training and augment data capture?))

Many think that Swatch's 45% decline in profit was due to chinese macroeconomics, but I think the decline is more permanent. There may be a rebound of some kind, but that ball will bounce lower and lower each time as the customers become less accessible. Even Swatch's adapted application of Sloan's Ladder of Success will, due to externalities and limitations Swatch's own tech portfolio, begin to shed steps, making it harder and harder to get a young customer in the house and to retain that customer against the encroachment of smart watches.

Watchmakers are going to have to contend with the collapse of their margins and markets as they are relegated to a niche of occasionally worn jewelry for people wanting to make a statement or who buy into the Patek Philippe "heirloom" marketing b.s.

Swatch Watches were the Bomb back in the 80's and 90's so many cool colors .

The 87 people who buy this will love it.

Story of Apple's life summed up in that title:

_____ Working on Apple _____ Competitor With Custom-Made _____ and Better _____

The apple watch's strength is the deep integration with iOS. I find it hard to believe that this will find any success. Competition is important, but I don't think these will even compete.

Introducing swatchOS