Dubai: LG Gulf is aiming to cash in on the growing demand for smartwatches as the industry is going from geek to chic to attract end users with more fashion-forward designs and in time for holiday season.
With many smartphone manufacturers already launched their smartwatches in the market with more improved features; the market is expected to gain traction amid from a small base.
“There are many smartwatches in the market right now but none had gained customers’ attraction. All others are pretty similar in designs and features with no differentiation. The market is going to grow at a faster rate than expected but we don’t know when, how and where,” D.Y. Kim, President of LG Gulf, told Gulf News after launching LG G Watch R in Dubai on Wednesday.
LG’s latest device looks like a regular circular-shaped watch and it is the second round design after Motorola’s Moto 360 while Sony, Asus and Samsung have launched with rectangular designs.
The watch has 1.3-inch plastic OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display powered by 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 processor with 512MB RAM and 4GB internal storage capacity. It runs on Google’s Android Wear software, specially designed for wearable devices. It is priced at Dh1,099 and will be available this week at retail outlets.
Kim said the advantage is that it is compatible with any Android phones (4.3 and above) and hopes to sell more than 10,000 units in the next quarter.
“Health care, sports and activity trackers are rapidly becoming mass-market products. We are launching it to study the needs of the customers and to improve our third-generation devices which are likely to be launched next year,” he said.
Handset makers are pinning hopes on sales of wearable devices to boost revenue as growth of smartphone sales are expected to be slower in the coming years.
Battery life and communication “will be the key for gaining traction,” Kim said.
LG’s power-save mode, which enables the display to retain its resolution without a supply, uses only 10 per cent of the battery life when in normal mode.
Sweta Dash, senior director for research and display at IHS, said that wearable devices are viewed as fashion accessories rather than electronic goods but the right combination of price, performance, form factor and usability to reach the consumer mainstream market will determine the market trend.
“Wearable technology is more than just a trend it’s a movement in how technology can further blend into a person’s everyday life,” Kim said.
LG will be launching its G Watch R2 with 4G LTE SIM support at Mobile World Congress in March.
