The world of mobile technology has been abuzz over the last few weeks with news, predictions and leaks around various smart watches on their way to market. Apple’s product announcements earlier this week also have tech aficionados on their toes, ready to pinpoint the positives and negatives around new features and price points. And there’s no getting around the proliferation of commentary around Google Glass. The mobile smart market is definitely changing, though where it will end up will be based largely on the ability of manufacturers to convince consumers they need these new types of products. By Russell Green, VP, research operations - engagement manager
By Russell Green, VP, research operations - engagement manager
The world of mobile technology has been abuzz over the last few weeks with news, predictions and leaks around various smart watches on their way to market. Apple’s product announcements earlier this week also have tech aficionados on their toes, ready to pinpoint the positives and negatives around new features and price points. And there’s no getting around the proliferation of commentary around Google Glass. The mobile smart market is definitely changing, though where it will end up will be based largely on the ability of manufacturers to convince consumers they need these new types of products.
I’ve read numerous smart watch product reviews – from Samsung to Apple to Nokia - that discuss screen widths, pixel resolution, battery life and device integration, with a dash of fashion critique thrown in for good measure. (Surely Google Glass is a fashion accessory we won’t be able to live without?) It will be interesting to juxtapose these predictions and expert reviews with the real-life experiences of these companies’ customers. Granted, that might be some time in coming, as the majority of smart watches have yet to roll out to the wider market here in the U.S. As a recent article at FierceWireless.com points out, the demand for products like smart watches will be driven by the companies that make them, rather than the other way around. Apple in particular has found great success with this approach – design a product (iPod, iPhone, take your pick) for the consumer that they don’t even realize they need, but soon can’t live without.
Fierce editors point out that, for smart watches, “The biggest hurdle may be that there is no antecedent for a data-enabled watch in the collective consumer consciousness…. With smartphones, consumers could remember their experiences with feature phones and landline phones before that. With tablets, they had the PC to look back to for familiarity. Watches have evolved mainly as fashion items.” (Medium.com offers a somewhat bleaker prognosis: “A history of the smart watch and why nobody wants one.”)
Creating and then entering a brand new market poses a number of challenges – not to mention outright risk - for any company. Go-to-market analysis and competitive analysis become a bit more challenging pre-entry, but often uncover potentially lucrative, niche sub-markets. While digital/mobile health is no longer quite as niche as it once was, it is a category of market most of these devices will find adoption in. Just how widespread that adoption will be within the healthcare ecosystem is anyone’s guess at this point.
