Samsung plans to have its next smartwatch out sometime this year, probably the same time the company unveils the Galaxy Note 5 at IFA 2015. Samsung’s previous smartwatches have not had anything good in them but still managed to sell more than what people expected thanks to aggressive marketing.
Read: Samsung Sold Over 1.2 Million Smartwatches in the Last Quarter Of 2014
We have not heard much about Samsung’s next smartwatch yet. The company has been pretty quiet with this but I expect more information to be made available to us as we get close to its launch date.
The latest information that has come from Korea indicates that Samsung plans to include NFC support in its upcoming smartwatch to be unveiled in the second half of the year. This will mean that the smartwatch can transfer files easily but more importantly, can be used to make mobile payments. Including this feature will be Samsung’s way of pushing its new mobile payment solution, Samsung pay.
Read: Samsung Pay Will Debut In September When the Company Unveils Its Next Flagship Device
Apple already has NFC on the Apple Watch which combined with Apple pay makes mobile payments easier in markets where Apple pay is live. Google also has its own payment solution, Android pay, which will be available on the Android platform.
Right now, all these payment solutions are still in the ‘baby’ stages and we can’t say if they will be successful even when included in smartwatches. It will take more than including the NFC features on smartwatches if Apple pay, Android pay and Samsung pay to have an effect on markets such as Kenya. We already have mobile payment solutions, Mpesa and the likes, that are very popular and I don’t see them dethroned anytime soon.
We will keep you informed on the next smartwatch from Samsung as we get more information.
