Android Wear is Google’s big push into the wearables market, but things haven’t went as planned for the search giant so far. This is bad news because the Apple Watch is right around the corner, and no doubt, the device will transform the market from mediocrity to profitable.
A recent estimate from Canalys revealed that all the Android Wear devices released in 2014 could only manage a combined shipment of 720,000 units. That’s pretty disappointing, especially with all the promises Google and its partners have thrown at the public.
Interestingly enough, Android Wear only accounts for a small fraction of the 4.6 million smart wearable devices that were shipped in 2014. It proves that Google and its hardware manufacturer partners have a lot of work on their hands because things are not looking well for the time being.
The first smartwatch to run the Android Wear operating system, but it failed to hit the 1 million unit shipped mark in the first 187 days. To put this into perspective, the first Apple iPhone managed to ship 1 million units in 74 days back in 2007, while the first iPad surpassed that number in just 28 days when it was released in 2010.
It shows that the Apple Watch could be the first smartwatch to achieve a million devices shipped in the first year due to Apple’s track record so far. Compared to several devices the Cupertino giant is selling right now, the company’s smartwatch will cost only $350. With this type of pricing, the Apple Watch is already seeping with success.
“Apple made the right decisions with its WatchKit software development kit to maximize battery life for the platform, and the Apple Watch will offer leading energy efficiency,” according to Canalys analyst Daniel Matte. “Android Wear will need to improve significantly in the future, and we believe it will do so.”
We agree with Matte, Android Wear will improve, but it needs to happen quickly before Apple takes a commanding lead in the market to the point where hardware manufacturers have to play catchup.
Source: [Canalys]
