According To WSJ Microsoft Will Respond To Apple With Its Own Smartwatch And Smartphone
We have all been so focused on all the success Apple has generated with its most popular lines of products, starting with its entire smartphones’ frenzy and all the way to the Apple iPad mini tablets, that it came to no surprise the high degree of excitement the rumored iWatch has amounted to. This seems to have triggered Microsoft’s hunger to reply to Apple by coming up with their own smartwatch product. And it is not only Microsoft that responds to Apple’s releases, but also Google, and other companies as per below.
But let’s take it one step at a time and create the context for a better understanding of the phenomenon. Set off by Foxconn’s strive to make their team bigger for working on an upcoming iPhone device and also on the low-budget iPhone, Redmond seems to have taken up the same mission and got down to work on a customized smartwatch product of its own. Furthermore, aligning with Apple trends, it is rumored that they are also working on a potential smartphone and a 7-incher Surface tablet. Not bad, right?
When it comes to the initial product in mention, Microsoft is apparently already in the early stages of the process and beyond the theoretical part of it too, and has already made contact with Asian suppliers when it comes to components, keeping a particular eye on 5-inch screens. While this seems to be the case, we have yet no actual confirmation of the facts and other sources state that an actual going forward with the smart-watch process is still not a decision Microsoft has taken, so we should still keep an eye on it.
The Wall Street Journal highlights that Microsoft has indeed started to work on an upcoming smart-watch that would be touch-activated, hence entering the arena for this type of technology and implicitly competing with Apple. Furthermore, Microsoft is also believed to be going ahead with testing its potential smartphone product, but there is no certainty that the tests shall ultimately amount to an actual release as well.
This would not be that surprising afterall if we remember that a couple of years back Microsoft has also worked on the SPOT service (Smart Personal Objects Technology) that was afterwards adopted by Fossil, Suunto, Tissot and Swatch and taken off the market sometime in 2008.
Moving on, besides the so-rumored watch project, we have also heard rumors on a potential Surface mini tablet, and to support this we have an article in the Journal dated from the past week where the product is believed to be forwarded for mass production by the end of the year. The article mentions that while this was not actually something Microsoft had in the cards the previous year, it came as a direct consequence of the wild and flourishing success that the competition’s tablets had met, and we are here referring to the Google Nexus 7 or to the 7.9 inch iPad Mini. So it was back in the last November when the news according to which Microsoft wanted to challenge its competition came out – the iPad Mini, that hit the markets last October. However the results were not the previously anticipated ones and when it came to the sales numbers, the charts were not exactly as desired either for the Surface that was launched in the summer of 2012.
One of the reasons speculated in this sense was related to the size of the tablets, and ITC had reportedly mentioned that 50% of the Q4 launched tablets were actually under 8 inches. In addition, in terms of future prognosis, researchers for Gartner conclude that until 2016, when it comes to the smart-devices field and wearable technology in general, its value shall amount to nothing less than $10 billion. What do you say about that?
To deconstruct this theory, we’ll stick to the separate Apple figures generated by its individual products, so we would then have a revenue of $10 to $15 billion or if we quantify it in share earnings, then $2.50 to $4.00 would be the answer. This would be the case if we take a figure of approximatively 50 million sold units per year, at a price somewhere around $200 – $300.
Although not clearly discussed or clarified, when it comes to the wearable technology area, we do seem to be given a glimpse into what it has in store for us next, and so I’d mention one of the statements that Bill Campbell has given a few days ago in terms of the company’s upcoming strategy and focus, suggesting that wearable technology might be it for Apple. We did of course not get any clear confirmation on the topic and the mystery regarding the upcoming Apple products was still well preserved, but the Head of the Intuit board did suggest that they shall have a special focus on a correlation between the tech field and the actual daily and “intimate things” we make use of in our daily lives.
As mentioned – perhaps (or better said most likely) influenced or inspired by this constant success, it is not only Apple and Microsoft that have focused on their own branded watch projects, but the rest of the competition too, so Samsung, Google and LG are worth mentioning in this category.
As you can see, the signs that Apple is moving towards wearable technology are no longer to be ignored and this can only be of good omen, so its constantly applying for different patents and also coming up with new open positions for growing its team stand behind the idea. Furthermore, to back this up, we know that a department of over 100 engineers working on Apple’s wearable tech projects has been formed, lead by the newly appointed Apple VP Kevin Lynch (coming straight from Adobe where he held the position of Chief Technology Officer) in collaboration with Bob Mansfied who runs the Tech department. This can not be a mere coincidence, right?
