
Smartwatch sales are tanking - sua_3000
https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/24/smartwatch-sales-are-tanking/?ncid=rss
======
choward
The biggest issue for me with the "smartwatch" is that they don't have feature
parody with dumb watches. I've had many watches in the past and the battery
lasts for years. I can also turn my wrist and see the time instantly. Who
would have thought?

What I get now is some piece of crap that needs to be charged every night. So
I basically have no features while I'm sleeping. I can't just wake up in the
middle of the night an instantly know what the time is.

As a battery saving measure, the time isn't displayed until I turn my wrist
and wait some obscene amount of time (around a second?). It also goes from
being dark to being lit... so much for being discrete.

I wish they would stop calling these things "watches" just because they go on
your wrist. I expect anything called a watch to have the features of a watch
and be on my wrist pretty much all of the time. Call it a fitness tracker if
it's not meant to be worn 24/7.

Let me know when battery life is within a couple of orders of magnitude of
real watches, then maybe I'll revisit.

~~~
jmcdiesel
The question is does this opinion comes from experience, or from assumption?

Having an Apple Watch now for about 6 months, I can say I love it, and none of
those things (and I shared the same skepticism before buying one) have proven
to be issues.

I don't tend to look at my watch when I sleep - so that one's easy, and when
you charge the watch its in a mode that gives off a low-light time (nightstand
mode, i think they call it). On top of that, it takes about an hour to charge,
so often I end up charging it during my night time regiment, and by the time I
go to bed, i COULD wear it (if i need to make sure I'm up early for something,
i wear it so i get the vibration)

If you want a traditional watch, then get a traditional watch - comparing it
to a traditional watch and holding to the same standards is not a position of
common sense...

~~~
pm90
> If you want a traditional watch, then get a traditional watch - comparing it
> to a traditional watch and holding to the same standards is not a position
> of common sense...

I don't think this is accurate. Someone brought up a comparison of smartphone
to a Nokia phone, but this is not the same kind of comparison. A smartphone
greatly simplified user interface and made accessing the internet and sharing
much easier, and also created new ways of interacting (swiping etc). Whereas,
the watch seems to be very featureful sure, but the internet is already
accessible using your phone. And the added worry of carrying yet another
charger when traveling (and the horror of losing it...). Now, a traditional
watch, you don't worry about it for YEARS, not a week. Its mostly another
ornament, like a cap or a shirt.

It may be a difference in temperament. But personally, I like to reduce things
in my life which require any form of attention: because I forget things very
easily (or am just too lazy to do them).

Also, this may not apply to everyone, but there is simply too many beautifully
crafted wristwatches out there for me to ever seriously consider a smartwatch.

~~~
jmcdiesel
"It may be a difference in temperament. But personally, I like to reduce
things in my life which require any form of attention: because I forget things
very easily (or am just too lazy to do them)."

That was exactly my primary concern. In practice though, you (well, I, and
most people) charge my phone at night. I set it next to the bed and plug it
in... now my watch charger is right next to my phone charger, so its a no-
brainer (and the wristband is fast on/off - thats important to me). Turns out
because of the phone, i had no new habit to get into :)

------
scottmf
Misleading title. You can't compare sales from the Apple Watch's initial
release with the months leading up to a new model.

If you take Apple out of the picture sales stay pretty steady. Samsung grows a
little, Garmin grows a lot. Far from "tanking".

Smartwatches will continue to sell steadily (to early adopters and developers)
until the tech catches up.

The new Apple Watch is already a huge improvement over the last model, but
mainly in software. WatchOS was terrible until 3.0 and it still isn't there.
It tries to do too much because Apple doesn't quite seem sure what it's
_supposed_ to do.

For telling the time, displaying notifications, fitness tracking, and a couple
of other things it's great. Why then is the homescreen a complete mess of
icons for half-features? Why (until WatchOS 3.0) could it take upwards of ten
seconds to open an app?

I imagine Apple would never release the iPad today without first-party
weather/stocks/calculator apps.

~~~
bduerst
Yep - this is a mistake people when evalutating gadget sales in general.

The timeframe has to be set to the product lifecycle (i.e. t=0 is the launch)
to make comparisons or determine trends. YoY is skewed heavily by the product
launches.

------
carsongross
Seems like they will stay a niche until they can replace phones entirely, and
perhaps even past then. A lot of people just don't like having something
strapped to their wrist and/or want a large screen.

As a watch guy (and most watch people are guys) the first smart watch I've
been excited about is the upcoming gear S3:

[http://www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/gear-s3/](http://www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/gear-s3/)

Because it looks like a real watch and has the rotating bezel for input, but I
recognize I'm a tiny market.

I hope it doesn't set my wrist on fire.

~~~
Mahn
> until they can replace phones entirely

I.e. never? I mean, I can picture making phone calls or dictating SMS by voice
with a smart watch, but people are not going to be browsing the web or taking
pictures with a tiny wrist device when they already have a 5-6" inches display
device on their pockets, and almost no one would ditch the latter for the
former if they had to choose.

I think it's likely that smart watches will continue to be niche devices for
the foreseeable future, at very least until someone figures out a killer
feature that sets them apart from smartphones.

~~~
nostrademons
FWIW, I said the same thing about smartphones when they came out - who'd want
to browse the web on a tiny 4" screen when you've got a 13" laptop? And
indeed, I do very little web-browsing on my smartphone; it's generally just
used to answer quick questions when I absolutely _need_ information (or, well,
when I want to win an argument over dinner :-P).

What made smartphones useful was people discovered _new_ uses that you just
couldn't use a computer for. You can't do turn-by-turn navigation with your
laptop in the car. It's nearly useless if you're standing at a street corner
in an unfamiliar city and want to know where the closest coffeeshop with wifi
is. You can't use it to take a picture of the cute little ducks crossing the
road and send it to your wife. It does you no good when you want to hail a car
to take you home.

People haven't yet discovered similar uses for a smartwatch. It's highly
likely that they exist, though. What the watch gives you is hands-free
information: you can receive quick, 1-5 second notifications even if you're
carrying something or immersed (sometimes literally) in physical activity.
I've already found this useful for getting notifications that my founders'
group has changed where we're meeting while I'm driving there, or that my wife
has already gone to the grocery store, or for checking off items on my
shopping list while carrying shopping bags. There are probably other bigger
uses waiting to be discovered.

~~~
toyg
_> What the watch gives you is hands-free information_

But your phone can also give you that, through earphones or headsets.
Smartwatches must find new uses _that a phone cannot also do as well_ , which
is a much harder bar to clear.

For example:

 _> notifications [...] while I'm driving there_

Phones can do that already, and will do more and more as CarPlay etc become
mainstream.

 _> checking off items on my shopping list while carrying shopping bags_

Siri can probably do that already (I use Trello for my shopping lists and it
works fine as it is, tbh).

The one use where smartwatches will likely be unbeatable, forever and ever, is
fitness/health: carrying around a phone in those circumstances is simply more
annoying than carrying a watch. Once they get cheap enough, they might replace
smartcards and badges for access control. If smartglasses become mainstream,
they could augment each other (your glasses display and record, your watch
stores and computes) and actually replace phones altogether; but alone, I
don't see them going anywhere.

~~~
nostrademons
Bluetooth earbuds & headsets have all the downsides of smartwatches: they cost
roughly the same (for headsets; earbuds are a lot cheaper), they make you look
as dorky or more, they're IMHO less comfortable, and they're another accessory
that can fall out and get lost. And they seem to have similar adoption
numbers. The main difference is audio vs. visual: headsets are better for some
uses (notably taking calls) but worse for others (interacting or reading quick
notifications).

------
sp332
Man, I didn't expect Pebble to be down so much. My wife and I have 5 of them
between us. The always-on screen and a week of battery life make them much
more attractive than most other smartwatches.

~~~
treve
If you buy 5 when you only have 4 arms, you might be biased about the pebble's
success ;)

~~~
sp332
It's true! We got one each when they first came out on Kickstarter, then I
bought a Steel because it looked nicer, then we both got Times when they came
out, then I got her a Round because she liked the look. _counts_ Oh wait,
that's 6. And the last one was in December... so actually, we're part of the
reason for the YoY decline!

~~~
harlanji
I'm with you, been wearing the Steel daily since it came out. Lovely product.
Firmware upgrade was actually welcome; I'll keep it, I love that you can roll
back easily by installing a different app version. Dismal market share! :( --
though, people have complimented it frequently, most don't know it's a smart
watch which I consider a feature.

Looks like they should turn to some niche marketing strategies if they're not
already because people who like Pebbles REALLY like Pebbles I find, though
they are rare to begin with.

------
cpprototypes
The "smartwatch" from Apple and Android is not a good idea. Fitbit and Pebble
are closer to the right direction. Apple/Android keep trying to make watch-
sized smartphones. But they will never compete with actual smartphones, they
will just always be annoying inferior smartphones on your wrist.

The key factor is to consider which senses are optimal UI for each device.
Smartphones dominate the visual and audio senses. Smartwatch simply can't
compete there. So smartwatch should have a very simple very low power display
like the Fitbit and Pebble and maybe a simple speaker/mic.

So what sense is the smartwatch good for? It's touch. There is a lot of
potential of using vibrations/touch as a UI. For example, I think the Apple
watch vibrates for turns when you do a Maps route. That's a good start. They
need to focus more on things like this. There's a lot you can communicate with
vibration, kind of like morse code (such as two quick vibrates, a long
vibrate, etc.)

And now Apple has a very advanced touch sensor (the new one in iphone 7). Get
rid of that silly big screen on Apple watch. Put the touch sensor there. Why
not just allow thumbprint scan, wave my watch at a Apple Pay terminal, and buy
things? Way less effort than taking out my phone.

These kind of pure touch and vibration UI is a huge open field. And I think
Apple somewhat understands this. But they need to make the big step of
dropping that screen. Because that's not where the smartwatch is strong. And
it would also allow long battery life which is more important for smartwatch.
People are used to daily charge for phones. But much less tolerant of that for
watches.

~~~
kenferry
> Get rid of that silly big screen on Apple watch. Put the touch sensor there.
> Why not just allow thumbprint scan, wave my watch at a Apple Pay terminal,
> and buy things? Way less effort than taking out my phone.

Just in case you missed it, this is already supported, and it's somewhat
better than you're suggesting. Once the watch is unlocked, it does not need
additional authentication to pay until it leaves your wrist (at which point it
relocks). Double click the side button to put it into pay mode.

------
Theodores
Festive gadget:

[https://www.google.co.uk/trends/explore?q=apple%20watch,pebb...](https://www.google.co.uk/trends/explore?q=apple%20watch,pebble%20watch,android%20watch,samsung%20watch,fitbit)

Seems interest in smart watches happens at Christmas time. There is a problem
with that because you don't buy people the same present every year and there
cannot be that many people wanting a new smart watch at Christmas,
particularly if it is marginally better than their existing smart watch.

I think the same people that bought 3D televisions and tablets bought smart
watches, they will be wanting something else next. Maybe they will return to
buying smart watches when there is some new battery-defying functionality to
them, i.e. they are as good as smart phones in miniature with lots of
previously unimagined 'Pokemon Go' grade apps that make the upgrade worth it.

I also do not believe that any of the smart watches cut the mustard as far as
true watch aficionados are concerned. To some people the fanciest ceramic
iWatch is on an equal par with a resin calculator watch, lacking intangible
heritage things and therefore not a cool item in their minds (they probably
fear not being able to use a smart watch). These same people were equally
snobbish about digital photography, therefore it could take a generation
before smart watches are accepted 'artistically' by people who are like that.

I am hoping that a category killing smart watch gets made by Google in the
same price range as a Chromecast. For £30 a lot of people would give a smart
watch a go.

------
newswriter9
I don't get it. Decades of science fiction depicting Heads-up-Display glasses
and wrist-strapped laptops, with people wishing and wishing we lived in such a
world.

Now here we are and society isn't going in for it. Bluetooth head sets,
smartwatches, Google Glass, none of it is sticking. Even though smart phones
are becoming cumbersome due to size and inability to use hands-free or even
one-handed well.

Are we ever going to see a cyberpunk future?

~~~
knz
Could it be that smartwatches and google glass don't have suitable input
methods yet? They're adequate for displaying information but not great for
extensive input or manipulation of data. Most people also don't want yet
another device to recharge each night either.

I have a Nexus 6 (one of the larger phones) and don't find it cumbersome at
all. It's certainly more practical compared to trying to do anything
meaningful on a smartwatch.

~~~
ChicagoBoy11
I think there is more to your comment than initially meets the eye. I've been
watching "Black Mirror" the past few days, and the one thing that all episodes
share in common when it comes to their futuristic UX is the tremendous
expressiveness that they derive from unbelievably simple and quick input
methods, where you can clearly see that the user communicated far more intent
than even the number of DOF that their supposed input device even allowed. The
only thing I can think of as helping to bridge that gap is AI

------
elchief
Can someone make a super-low energy, classic looking watch with GPS? For
people with Alzheimer's / Dementia. Could make a kids version too.

They have GPS watches, but the battery seems to last maybe a day or two. My
dad isn't going to remember to do that, so I would need to do so on a less
frequent basis.

Maybe with some self-charging based on user movement (they used to make self-
winding watches)? Keep GPS off until receive (authenticated) SMS message
asking it to turn on, then report back position? Or maybe just triangulate
position based on cell towers every 15 min...

~~~
zimpenfish
[http://www.back2you.com/alzheimer-dementia-gps-
tracker.html](http://www.back2you.com/alzheimer-dementia-gps-tracker.html)
does a week but sadly lacks the "classic looking watch" form factor (unless
you get creative with a Dremel, I suppose)

------
gumby
I'm really shocked by how much I appreciate my Apple watch. I bought it
figuring I'd try it for 13 days and return it. Instead, I forgot to put it on
in the morning of the fifth day and turned around on the way to work to get it
-- it made that much difference. My GF, likewise, finds hers indispensable.

But it does pretty much everything I need right now so I don't see a point in
upgrading. The analysts are hoping for an upgrade market.

------
kingmanaz
As a wearer of a 1950s Bulova selfwinder, rather than the _face_ , I'd like to
see smatwatch vendors focus on the _band_. In other words, a third-party
creates a 16mm or 18mm Nato style strap which embeds the battery, heartrate
sensors, motion sensors, etc. and communicates to a smartphone or PC via
bluetooth for data collection. The same 1950s Bulova (or whatever) face is
attached to the band.

~~~
steaminghacker
i agree. Stuffing everything into one tin makes it too big with too short
battery life. The problem with putting sensors & power in the strap is that
it's not longer a watch insofar as you can change straps. personally, i think
the "band" format is superior, mainly for these reasons.

------
sua_3000
had one and returned it. They don't provide much value beyond real-time
notifications & a fancy pedometer.

~~~
problems
Yeah, this is why I went with the Pebble over the others - it gets the
realtime notifications and the fancy sleep tracker and pedometer - and due to
eink, can keep its screen on without the need to be charged every night.

That's all I wanted it for, that's all it does. And most importantly - it's
priced like that's all it does.

~~~
milesokeefe
Pebbles haven't used e-ink since the first version.

But they seem to get equal or better battery life out of the Transflective
LCDs currently used, which operate on a similar principle as e-ink, in the
sense of how the light reaches your eyes:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transflective_liquid-
crystal_d...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transflective_liquid-
crystal_display)

~~~
problems
Interesting, I seem to remember them calling it color epaper in some marketing
material so I just assumed it was a similar product to eink. Cool though.

------
cyberferret
As the comments in that article pointed out - the hassle far outweighs the
value. After not wearing a watch for over 20 years, I've had an Apple Watch
for about 3 months now (it was a free gift), and honestly, as much as the
device is useful, it is a pain - especially when it comes to battery life.

The charge seems to last _just_ enough to fall flat at the most inconvenient
times, i.e. when I am just about to leave the house all day, or right when I
am about to go to bed (I use the watch primarily for sleep tracking).

Most of the apps on the watch kind of require you to wear it _consistently_
all of the time to give you meaningful data, however current battery life
means you end up with large gaps in your human telemetry that your data is
always missing vital chunks.

~~~
lowbloodsugar
Someone gave me a golf cart last year. Actually they gave me a Ferrari 458
Spider. But I wanted a golf cart, so I'm using it as golf cart. Its hassle far
outweighs its value. It destroys the fairway with its huge torque. And its
rear wheel drive makes it really hard to control on grass. And it uses a lot
of gas, so it runs out at the most inconvenient times. My friend doesn't
understand, saying he drives his around town, on tarmac, and passes gas
stations all the time, but he fails to realize that there aren't any gas
stations on the golf course.

Your friend gave you a $300+ Apple Watch, not a $50 sleep tracker. Charge it
at night and if you really do want a sleep tracker then buy a sleep tracker.

~~~
cyberferret
Not sure about you, but I would have the skills to actually use a Ferrari 458
Spider as a golf cart without tearing up the fairways or using too much fuel.
It would be cool.

Strange analogies aside - the point of my post is that the Apple Watch uses
too much of my time and energy to 'baby' it and make sure it is operationally
ready. Yes, I love unlocking my Mac with it, getting the time and reading
notifications on it, so big bonus there. I did used to have Fitbit device for
a long while there and enjoyed the fact that I only had to plan and think
about charging it every 2 or 3 weeks, rather than every 1.3 days.

Even if it was an even 24 hours recharge cycle for the Watch, it would be a
darn sight more convenient, as I could get into routine of charging it at a
set time every day, but the fact that it (a) runs out of charge at different
times of the day and (b) takes a long time to fully charge up means that it
just takes up too much of my conscious thought to manage it, and I would far
rather spend that time and energy elsewhere on things I consider more
important. Heck, I have enough trouble keeping my cats fed and happy - I don't
need something else constantly bullying me as well.

Similar with your Ferrari analogy above. Rules permitting, it would make an
awesome golf cart and I would do so without hesitation. My main problem would
be 'babying' it again and worrying about other golfers denting it with errant
shots or thrown clubs (you'd have to play golf with me one day to see how
prevalent that is among the guys I play with!) :)

First world problems, I know, but I think it is a big factor as to why most of
the first world seems to shun the smart watches.

~~~
lowbloodsugar
You might just have a broken one then? I charge mine a set time every night,
put it on in the morning, and 18 hours later when I'm hitting the hay, it
still has 40% charge.

Also, you are a way better driver than me.

------
jfoutz
I've always been skeptical of smart watches. As others say, if it can't
outright replace my phone, i just don't see much value in them.

I wear "nice" watches occasionally, usually any time i have to wear a suit. As
a toy, an epaper watch with actual physical hands would be pretty cool. The
two extra hands on something like a diving watch could be used for other
gauges, maybe unread email count or something goofy like that.

A watch seems like the right target for that semi connected on call state.
Sort of like a modern pager. I'm not reading email, or available on hangouts.
But i'll get the alert that we need to communicate. Low key, non intrusive,
acceptable at a funeral. Just a few bits of information.

~~~
DanBC
> Sort of like a modern pager.

One of the original smart watches was Swatch's The Beep - a watch / pager
mashup.

[http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/wear-your-heart-
on-y...](http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/wear-your-heart-on-your-
wrist-1619632.html)

------
carldotac
I bought one of the first generation Android Wear devices for $50 a few months
after they debut. There was some convenience to the simple verbal commands for
timers and the instant answers made for a neat party trick, but the speech-to-
text wasn't good enough for moderately complex messaging (I once said I would
be there in "a bit over 15 minutes" and got the fraction bit/15 minutes) and
it was heavy and uncomfortable. I've also become less and less comfortable
with being so intimate with Google.

I do see value added in the notification mirroring, however. There are many
situations where it's useful to see updates without taking out and unlocking
your phone: at a meeting, with your hands full, walking around in a crowd. I
hadn't worn my watch for the better chunk of a year until two weeks ago when I
needed instant Twitter notifications during business hours should a convention
I attend start selling its badges. Now that I have those badges, it's back
into the drawer until needed again. My calculator watch is more comfortable
and I have metal watches that look nicer. Unless I have a defined need for
notifications on my wrist, I currently am better off with a conventional
watch.

------
drivingmenuts
Why do I need a smartwatch, when I have a perfectly acceptable smartphone that
does about 10x10 things more than the smartwatch will ever be able to do?

If I just needed to know the time, I'd buy a watch. If I need to know the time
and make a call, I'd buy a smartphone.

Which I did.

Welcome to the future. We don't really solve problems - we just invent new
ones and call the old problems solved.

Hell, I don't even remember what problem smartwatches were supposed to solve!

I'm going to go get off my own damn lawn.

~~~
FLGMwt
Dunno if it's just because of Chicago winters, but not having to unglove and
unbundle my phone is pretty nice for:

\- Screening calls

\- Switching/pausing music

\- Reading and (briefly) responding to texts

\- checking the time (no, seriously : p)

------
Fiahil
Of course sales are tanking, these things are bloody useless.

I have the first generation of motorola 360, I wear it every day and charge it
every night. The hardware is fine (for a first gen) and I like its style. But,
I unpaired it from my phone a long time ago, because I ran into too many
issues. First the connection was sucking my phone's battery to a point it
wasn't funny anymore, then updating an app on my phone would crash the watch's
OS, and again randomly causing the thing to become uncomfortably hot. Finally
the overhaul quality of the ecosystem went down with each updates
(notifications delayed, vibrations missed, glitches...)

The features I don't miss:

\- Fitness & heart rate (that thing was a joke)

\- Music (I have a phone for that, thank you)

\- Note taking (just no. I'm not ever again talking to my watch in public)

\- Text responding (what is wrong with you?)

The features I do miss a little bit:

\- GPS guidance with vibrations when biking (two for left, three for right, -
that was genius)

\- getting my phone's notifications (when it was working)

------
AvenueIngres
Pebble is rather good, I would say it is easily the best price:quality
smartwatch available out there.

------
aschampion
I like my 2nd gen Moto 360 as a watch, for its aesthetics, and as a simple
notifier, but almost everything else on it is beyond broken. Just trying to
check the weather takes 20+ seconds and fails half the time, even on wifi.
Pull out the phone and the weather is already there, updated. What the hell.
Ok Google could be useful, except for the situations you'd want to use it
(hands full, crowded environment) are exactly the situations where it fails.

USAA has a great watch app, though, which somehow has many fewer
reliability/latency problems than every other app. I can do most of my banking
just walking down the hall while my phone is locked up at my desk.

------
r00fus
I predict Apple is very happy with the smartwatch market being down, much like
Microsoft loved it (back in '99) when internet stocks were down. They are an
iPhone company, and probably prefer (as a company) to defer threats to that
incumbency.

I own an Apple Watch, and a Pebble before it, but honestly until more devices
are addressable by such devices, it's usability is limited.

I think it may also have something to do with the relative popularity of Alexa
and pervasive voice input in general - though I shy away from those due to
privacy concerns. I mean, why wear a watch and tap for Siri when you can just
call out for Alexa (and now Google) to ask about weather?

(edited for clarity)

------
steaminghacker
Haven't they figured out yet that telling the time is the thing that smart
watches do the worst.

instead, i want a band. I'm still waiting for an Android Wear band. i want
something a bit like the Microsoft band 2 [1], but slimmer and a smaller
screen. something as a notification device and to take voice notes. but i
don't need it to replace my watch because it's not "on" when i look at it.

For telling the time, I'll either wear a "proper" watch (as well) or none at
all.

[1] I'm on my 3rd ms band. they randomly die (stop charging). ms are good
about it and replace it quickly... but soon my warranty will be up and it's
all over.

~~~
milesokeefe
Pebble doesn't have that problem.

~~~
steaminghacker
can i do voice recognition on a pebble?

~~~
wvenable
Yes, and not just on Android. Pebble has a microphone and voice-recognition.
One of the more popular apps is effectively wrist-based Siri.

------
nercht12
Smart watches don't have any particular niche to capture that other devices
don't have. Maybe if they expanded into large screen computers, that would be
cool. It'd be nice to have a rolled up monitor on my arm - it'd be great for
maps cause I could unroll it with the other hand to get a peek at the map and
then let it auto-re-roll itself. Sorry - I don't have a diagram to show you
the idea, but maybe you can catch my drift. I'm aware there are some flexible
screens already (some organic stuff), but I don't know much about the progress
in that area.

------
mjevans
I suspect people /want/ a smart watch so they can feel like Dick Tracy and
Roger Smith (Anime, Big O).

The reality is that the smart watch is little more than a smaller screen
attached by wireless personal area network to the real computer; which has a
better (bigger, brighter, larger buttons) and more responsive screen.

I stopped wearing a normal watch once I had a decent pocket chronometer (a
comparatively primitive simple pocket flip phone).

I think that's the marketing problem here; it isn't clear to the average
consumer what the use case, if any, actually is.

~~~
wastedhours
Mainly because you feel like an utter prat walking down the street talking to
your wrist. Had an original G Watch and truly felt like the biggest c __k
saying "Ok Google, remind me to do XYZ".

It had 3 uses: 1) seeing who's ringing and dismissing calls in meetings where
you left the ringtone on 2) being able to read full message threads through
the notifications without having to "read" them in the apps (sneaky for
Messenger and Hangouts) 3) pretending you're not a tourist by getting
navigation directions on the wrist rather than being obvious and looking at
your phone.

Suffice to say, I now wear a nice normal watch that I love dearly.

~~~
steaminghacker
yeah what possessed them to make people say "ok Google". I might as well say,
"I'm an idiot". Was it not possible to make it start listening for commands
when you activate it/turn wrist etc.

------
nfriedly
I liked my Android Wear watch, but it never completely worked. Things like
dismissing a reminder on the watch would get a sad cloud rather than also
dismiss it on my phone. I thought maybe it was because I was running
cyanogenmod, so I went back to stock Verizon firmware, but it had all the same
bugs. A few weeks later, the Android Wear app started crashing in the
background 2-3 times per minute and giving me a popup each time. I disabled it
and haven't really used the watch since.

------
huangc10
Someone mentioned it in the comments on TC. The decline may have been due to
the Apple Watch v2's imminent announcement. I think people are willing to try
it but not if there is "most definitely" a newer and improved version coming
out soon for the same price.

2017 may well be the year for watches. This topic is pointless now given it's
end of Oct and BF and Christmas is coming up soon. Let's revisit this topic
mid 2017.

*edit, spelling.

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frenchman_in_ny
This is slightly misleading -- and the table is missing its footnotes from the
original article -- since the "data only includes smartwatches capable of
running third party applications". As a result, it ignores a lot of great
wearables that for some reason IDC doesn't consider "smartwatches" which don't
_need_ third party apps.

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norea-armozel
I must be a curmudgeon but what's the purpose of a smart watch? It always
seemed like a solution in search of a problem.

------
pjmlp
Of course they are, they are just a gimmick to try to sell gadgets to those
that already own a PC, tablet and phones and overcome the flat downwards curve
in sales, now that all those devices are good enough for most people.

As a former owner of the old Casio and Timex first waves of smartwatches, I
fail to get any interest on 21st version of them.

------
canada_dry
When I was in Shenzhen recently I noted that smart watch shops were
everywhere, with literally hundreds of different models to choose from... but
very few people were actually wearing one! I believe this will be (er, has)
become the CB radio fad of this generation.

------
gtrubetskoy
If I ever do get a smartwatch, it would be because it's a sensor. I think the
health/medical/biohacking potential there is huge. The only thing is - must it
really be on my wrist, and do I really need to look at it or touch/push
buttons on it?

~~~
steaminghacker
im thinking biosensors evenually have to go subcutaneous with the watch/band
being the reader.

------
shepard
I'm wondering why no one discusses that Q3 was the Quarter right _before_ new
Apple Watch introduction, and Apple owns a majority share in the market? Of
course people were waiting to buy a new device. Q4/Q1 will be more relevant.

------
philfrasty
If you can't use them....shoot them
[https://youtu.be/JumhJWgAS4U?t=16s](https://youtu.be/JumhJWgAS4U?t=16s)

------
post_break
Probably because there hasn't been an updated android wear watch in ages
besides the fossil, which I bought after my moto 360 died. Google is dragging
their feet.

~~~
steaminghacker
isn't there supposed to be a major update Jan?

------
pcunite
When I'm not wearing my _mechanical_ Seiko, I wear a Garmin GPS for running.
Always-on is big for me. Are there any that have that feature these days?

~~~
sp332
Always-on... screen? Pebbles have that. They don't have GPS built-in though so
you'll have to bring your phone with you. You can control the running apps
through the watch interface at least.

~~~
darklajid
Note that there are 3rd party solutions for the Pebble (straps that use their
extension/accessory pins to add GPS and a bit more juice) and that Pebble
plans to release the Pebble Core in January - a tiny wearable Android device
with GPS included.

So you should be able to go out with your Pebble + SomethingElse and leave the
phone at home, if we're talking GPS or tracking.

Disclaimer: I own a Pebble Time, I backed the Pebble Time 2 and the Pebble
Core.

------
fisherjeff
I think their conclusion is a little misguided - if you remove the Apple Watch
from the list, overall sales are roughly flat, at 1.6-1.7m units.

------
fuzzythinker
It will continue to tank until they become the phone and the phone becomes
just another screen (eg. ipod touch, mini tablets).

~~~
technofiend
I honestly thought that was one possible outcome of Project Ara if Google
decided that the phone's component inventory didn't literally need to be
connected to the base station. It would have made sense to extend Ara
communication to BLE, Zigbee or some other low power wireless rather than
wired interface. But that dream died with the Ara project itself. Oh well.

------
pmontra
What killed the smart watch for me is the watch form factor. I don't want
stuff strapped to my body. I had to stop wearing a watch many years ago for a
few months and I couldn't do it again since I lost the habit. It just feels
unnatural. I understand that it can be laughed at, because I wear glasses. An
extremely lightweight notification device inside my glasses would be the right
form factor for me.

------
dfar1
I've been wanting one but given their prices and longevity I rather just get a
nicer phone.

------
luckydata
I love my Pebble, I'm now late to 50% less of my scheduled appointments :-)

