Swiss watch versus Apple Watch

Traditional watch makers are confident that Apple's new gadgets will die in front of them.

When the 70 's, Asia began exporting a lot of cheap, accurate quartz watches, and many Swiss watch makers went bankrupt. However, the surviving watch craftsmen restored their composure and continued their prosperity. This stylish timepiece preaches the wearer's taste and status far more than any electronic gadget.

Does Apple's new smart watch and its similar products herald a recurrence of the quartz watch disaster? Some people think it is possible. Renowned designer Richard Seymour points out that the wrist is a "premium real estate" where many people place expensive watches-especially for men, whose watches are their customary jewellery. So if smart watches are popular, they could drive Swiss watches out of the market.

Apple's ambitions seem to be abundantly clear. It has dug up several senior executives from the fashion world (Burberry Angela Ahrendts and Yves Saint Laurent Paul Neve). Apple's new watch does not have to be just a gadget--some with a 18K gold casing. Apple's chief designer, Jonathan Ive, is reported to have privately claimed that the Swiss watch industry is in trouble.

But Swiss watch makers are not intimidated. Claude Biver, chairman of the Hublot (a Swiss watch brand of luxury goods group LVMH), said the smart watch was nothing more than an informational tool that could not reflect the uniqueness of the wearer, who would become obsolete with technological advances, while Swiss watch makers were selling a " The Eternity in the little box. "

The most intense sense of crisis is the more inexpensive and not too classic Swiss watch brands, including Swatch and other low-grade brands and Tissot, Hamilton such as the midrange market. As early as ten years ago, Swatch has tried to join hands with Microsoft to enter the smart watch. Although the business adventure ended in tragedy, Swatch still had plans to make a comeback. However, Kepler Cheuvreux analyst Jon Cox points out that the sales of watches under 500 dollars represent only 6% of the industry's profits, so the Swiss watch industry can overcome their losses. He argues that the profits threatened by Apple's watches will only account for 5% of its total profits, as Swatch has several high-end brands and supplies parts for other watch makers.

Biver, chairman of Hublot, argues that allowing young people to wear expensive items on their wrists could boost the development of the Swiss watch industry. Existing customers may wear Apple products to meet their daily needs, but put their wrists into more enviable watches for social occasions. Seymour, a well-known designer, is not sure: he thinks Apple will do all it can to get people to wear Apple Watch for 24 hours.