Smartwatches have not been around for a long time but they have proven to be useful to some people. I say some people as they are still not mainstream and not everyone sees their use, they are in-between smartphones and fitness bands from the functionality point of view.
One company that has made a name for itself in the smartwatch market is Motorola. The company’s first smartwatch, the Moto 360 grabbed everyone’s attention when it launched. The watch had an elegant design that separated it from most other smartwatches we had seen on the market. This was one of the first smartwatches we saw with a circular touchscreen and looked more like a watch that a smartwatch.
Even though the Moto 360 got a good reception, Motorola has no plans of releasing a successor to this smartwatch anytime soon. The company has come out and categorically said that it has scrapped plans of releasing a new connected timepiece in 2016 and it has no plans of releasing one with the release of the new version of Android Wear.
A Very Small Market
According to Shakil Barkat, head of global product development at Motorola, they do not see enough pull in the market to continue releasing new smartwatches. “Wearables do not have broad enough appeal for us to continue to build on it year after year.”
We have known that smartwatches don’t have a big market share and this decision by Motorola is definitely not a good one. We may see other players ditching the platform if it does not make sense to stick around.
Motorola isn’t ditching smartwatches entirely though, all the company is doing is waiting to see how this sub sector evolves for it to make its move and at this point means halting production.
Also Read: Smartwatch Shipments in Q3 of 2016 Dropped by 50% Compared to the Same Period Last Year