For Apple, the hard part – making a smartwatch – is nearly over. Soon it will be time for the harder part : selling the long-anticipated Apple Watch to consumers who, so far, are not very excited about the idea of wearing computer on their bodies.
The first batch of smartwatches from companies like Samsung Electronics, Motorola and LG did no sell well, nor were they particularly well reviewed. And wearable devices like the Google Glass eyewear that got mainstream attention – if not sales – were greeted with considerable scepticism.
But Apple has been in this situation before. Most consumers didn’t care about computer tablets before Apple released the iPad, nor did they generally think about buying smartphones before the released of the iPhone. In both cases, the company overcame initial indifference.
The Apple Watch, which Apple introduced in September and is expected to be in stores in April, is a miniature computer worn around the wrist, with a touch screen and a crown for navigating the device. There are three different models sold at different prices, and the bands are interchangeable.
Apple has marketed it as a device that can appeal to a range of customers like fitness buffs and luxury watch collectors. But it has limited its functions, making it more like a watch, more easily relatable than a tech gadget that happens to look like a watch, said Ben Bajarin, a consumer technology analyst for Creative Strategies.