Earlier this week, I wrote about the future of Apple Watch design. In it, I asked a simple question: why hasn’t the Apple Watch design changed much? The device has remained strangely static, especially when compared to something like the iPhone.
I had some ideas about this, but it was simply opinion. Wanting to dig a bit deeper, I got in touch with Ben Stanton, a Senior Analyst at Canalys. One of his areas of expertise is the smartwatch market, so I put to him the same question: why hasn’t the Apple Watch design changed?
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Straight away, Stanton told me there is simple “no commercial reason” for Apple to alter its wearable‘s design. Yet.
Despite the pandemic, Apple’s smartwatch shipments rose 6% in the first half of 2020 — and it currently owns 40% of this market globally. A key point Stanton raised was the fact a “high proportion” of people buying the wearable are doing so the first time.
Effectively, this audience segment doesn’t care that the Apple Watch design hasn’t changed, because they’ve not owned one before.
Another reason Stanton pointed to for the static nature of the wearable‘s design is its brand awareness. Because of its popularity, he told me, the Apple Watch has become its own marketing tool.
Published October 28, 2020 — 14:33 UTC