Will Samsung’s new Galaxy Watch end Apple’s global smartwatch dominance?
South Korean company – no 3 in market behind Apple and Fitbit – confident about appeal of latest models launched under Galaxy brand on Sunday
Samsung Electronics began selling its Galaxy Watch in South Korea on Sunday and vowed to oust global market leader Apple Watch.
The Korean company had first revealed the look of its latest smartwatch earlier in August while unveiling its new Galaxy Note 9 smartphone.
To unify its smart devices under the Galaxy brand, Samsung has abandoned its Galaxy Gear brand and renamed the smartwatch the Galaxy Watch.
With the importance of the internet of things (IoT) – the network of physical devices, vehicles, home appliances, and other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors and connectivity which enables these things to connect and exchange data – continuing to grow, Samsung is keen to have a strong presence in the smartwatch market.
According to data compiled by market research company IDC, the sales growth of wearable devices is continuing to increase with the sales up by 8.2 per cent compared with this time last year.
The total number of shipments of wearable devices is expected to reach 124.9 million this year.
IDC also predicts that smartwatches will become increasingly important in the wearable device market. By 2022 smartwatches will account for 44.6 per cent of all sales of wearable devices.
The Galaxy Watch will have a long battery life of three to four days before it needs to be recharged and will help its users manage their everyday health.