Samsung’s Smart Move: No More Smartwatches At least for the time being.
Samsung executive vice president Young-hee Lee has revealed the company’s smartwatch strategy moving forward: Don’t release any. Speaking with the Wall Street Journal at Mobile World Congress, Lee explained Samsung’s new strategy regarding watches simply.
King Of The Molehill
Lee isn’t exaggerating about how many smartwatches have come out of Samsung over the last couple of years. After diving into the wearable space with the first Galaxy Gear in September 2013, Samsung went wearable crazy. The next year saw the release of the Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo, Gear Fit, Gear Live, and Gear S. But while Samsung blanketed the market with products, not one of the six devices have managed to catch on in a big way.
Strategy Analytics reported last May that Samsung owned 71 percent of the smartwatch market at that time—but that translated into sales of only 500,000 watches out of 700,000. That’s sort of like being declared Emperor of Rhode Island, a grand title for a teeny kingdom. And during the same period, rival analysts Canalys declared Pebble the smartwatch leader with 35 percent of the market, with Samsung trailing behind with a 23 percent stake.
Meanwhile, Samsung’s mobile division posted shrinking profits and disappointing Galaxy S5 sales. With the Galaxy S6, Samsung has scaled back its attempts to cram every conceivable (and half-baked) feature into its smartphones. Based on Lee’s wish for Samsung to make “a more perfect product,” it looks like the company is taking a similar tack with its wearables.
Source: readwrite