Apple Watch is the Aston Martin of wearables
I guarantee the Apple Watch will shake up the wearable market and, as with many of Apple's other launches, cause a change in customer behavior because the product experience, the interface and the build quality will be beautiful. Apple Watch will become the standard that all others are measured by.
Is a digital watch the innovation the mass market is looking for? I doubt it, but if Apple crack the display of information on a tiny screen and the input needed to drive it, then it takes us one step closer to world and human-computer interaction that is interface free and therefore, frictionless.
It’s surprising to see three models and such a variety of straps, Apple does not usually go in for range, the only personalization to an iPhone is picking a different color.
Developing the iPhone 5c allowed Apple customers to be more individual, and building on Henry Ford’s world where you could have any color as long as it was black, Apple knows customers want to be collectively individual.
The range of watches does hit the three core markets: sport, fashion and luxury. Does $10,000 represent good value? Of course not, but the branding will command those prices.
Can Apple push its watch in the Patek Philippe and Rolex market? Yes. But it will never replace those luxury brands; the Apple Watch is a technical marvel but it isn’t a classic timepiece.
I think of the Apple Watch as an Aston Martin -- its sports watch is a DB9 and the Watch Edition is an Aston Martin One. A super premium product in a premium range.
Me, I’ll be buying one the day it comes out to add to my collection, but I can guarantee I will only be wearing it as much as any other luxury watch.
Chris Averill is CEO of we are experience.
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