Market pundits are pondering whether or not Apple’s long-awaited high-end smartwatch – which includes health and lifestyle apps and integrated wireless iPhone connectivity – will be as much of a hit as the company’s iPads.
Apple’s new device will be available for order on 10 April and in shops on April 24, including boutiques in Paris, London and Tokyo, according to the latest press reports. However, with the announcement of the coming launch, Apple’s share price hardly budged, says Christopher Riley, CEO of The Notebook Company.
“The Apple smartwatch will not be a huge commercial success,” Riley states. “It is likely to add up to only 5% of the sales made with iPads and iPhones. Essentially, this is a device that Apple fans are going to love – but it will not generate huge sales. I wouldn’t call it a gimmick – but it is not going to have a material impact on Apple’s revenue at the end of the day.”
Riley believes that the smartwatch will eventually move to an earpiece only, and, within 20 years, it will be an implanted device.
“We will literally live with our technology – as in: we will have technology implanted.
“The smartwatch ultimately makes sense and it is the direction technology is moving in. The bottom line is that we have mobile phones, we want smaller devices – and the smaller devices need to attach somewhere. A smartwatch would be a good bedfellow.
“To attach it to a place where we had stuff attached before makes sense. There is less emotional resistance and you can be sure it will get smaller – and with the use of voice and less GUI (graphic user interface) – it will probably become an ear piece in 10 years. Thereafter, it will become an implant.”