Smartwatches in the Developing World: Why Success is Hard to Come by

When Android Wear was launched in mid-2014 back at Google I/O with the Samsung Gear Live and the LG G Watch, a lot of people were excited by the potential that smart wearables had. The excitement from the tech enthusiast may not have translated into mind-blowing popularity amongst the average consumer in present times, but slowly and surely, smartwatches are catching on. Their use cases are being expanded beyond the simple notification jobs and health tracking to include functionality that were otherwise reserved for slightly bigger screens like smartphones. The public did not fall head over heels for them, but that was to be expected as watches tended to have longer product spans than smartphones. They are less likely to be replaced at the end of the second year by the average consumer simply because a newer version came out.

But even then, there’s an unproportionately large friction when it comes to the adoption of smart wearables, mainly watches, in the developing world when compared to the developed parts of the world. While newer entries are being planned week after week for major markets, the minor markets rarely see a timely release of said products. This is quite in contrast to the smartphone scene, where major devices often have global launches or accelerated rollouts, giving people in the developing nations a chance to lay their hands on the latest piece of tech without jumping through a ton of hoops (albeit ending up paying ludicrously for the bleeding edge) at around the same time as the rest of the world. So what are the reasons why smartwatches are still struggling to take off in countries like India? What makes smartwatches a non-participating bystander to the mobile-boom?

The prime reason why smartwatches are still not taking off in developing countries is the lack of demand (how anticlimactic of us). When a very large part of the population has other basic needs to be fulfilled, and another good portion recognizes itself as being “middle class”, a watch still gets classified as a luxury item. Not all watches do though, as people still continue to own basic watches to keep track of the passage of time. But when you have other needs to fulfill, it is difficult to justify the differences between a watch that costs $15 and a watch that costs $250 and even more so with a watch that would cost $1500. As such, a good chunk of the population is simply not the ideal nor intended customer for a smartwatch.

Global distribution of Smartwatch companies in 2013

That’s not to say that smartwatches cannot be cheap. A quick search on Amazon India reveals a few options that will certainly strike as dirt cheap for people in the western countries. For example, the “#1 Best Seller” in the smartwatch category is a product innovatively named “Smart Watch with SIM, 16GB memory card support for Android or use as Mobile” by JP. This “smartwatch” costs ~$13 and its product descriptions states that it’s “a cell which you can wear”, basically implying a smartphone with a small screen. But I’d be willing to bet that such a product will neither be able to work as a watch nor a phone, and the sub-par experience it will provide will put off past buyers and make them apprehensive on their future purchases. Reputable smartwatches, such as the Sony Smartwatch 3 costs Rs. 11,890 ($177) while the Moto 360 2nd Gen will cost you Rs. 19,990 ($298). By comparison, a decent mid-range smartphone like the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 32GB variant costs Rs. 11,999 ($179), so you can see why a consumer would be unwilling to drop in so much cash on a watch that they do not know if they need. Only the Pebble Classic can be purchased for Rs. 5,999 ($90), but it has its own share of pros and cons.

 Now, it can be argued that a smartwatch does above and beyond the functions of a watch (hence the “smart”). But most smartwatches, even two years after the launch of Android Wear, are not designed or intended to be standalone devices. They are companion peripherals, complementing and augmenting the usage of your smartphone for its smart functionality. It’s a connected experience, so the limitations that come to exist on your smartphone also extend on over to your smartwatch. For a developing country, this translates into low data plans and poor internet speeds, which can act as hindrances for the adoption of something that needs yet more data to work. There are no subsidies or contracts to get the watch for cheap, so you can see why there is so much resistance built up for the smartwatch.

Further, with Android Wear, Googled pushed a lot of their own services and technology for wearables. One of the draws of owning a smartwatch was voice recognition and how you can interact with the watch with your voice. People in the developing world often have issues with the voice recognition due to unfamiliar accents, or even unsupported languages. Then there are services like Google Now, which have limited use outside of weather forecast and news pieces for such countries. The overall pull from a smartwatch is significantly affected, and their overall usefulness to an average consumer is lowered to the point where they often question, “Do I really need a smartwatch that is just a watch?”.

If I talk about my own experiences, I do not own a smartwatch. Despite Mario’s constant fanboying appreciation of smartwatches like the Moto 360 and the Samsung Gear S2, I still haven’t felt the need to own one (also because of the sheer amount of notifications I receive). For everything that a smartwatch can do for me, my phone can do better. Even within my circles, I’ve only seen smartwatches within my tech groups such as during Google Developer Group events, when I meet up with Faiz, and during press launch events. In fact, I have seen more of the Apple Watch within my social circles than I have seen any Android Wear smartwatch, and this has more to do with the assumed-luxury aspect of the smartwatch than its functionality. On the other hand, fitness trackers like the cheap Mi Band or the slightly more expensive Fitbit are quite popular, but they fall into the category of smart wearables and not smartwatches.

All in all, the future of smartwatches looks unimpressive in the developing world. They remain bystanders, while smartphone adoption reaches new heights, looking on as their poor demand creates a negative feedback loop with poor supply, choice and pricing. Smartwatches continues to remain niche choices for those who want to stay on the bleeding edge. But outside of these early adopters, smartwatches have a long way to go …

What are your thoughts on smartwatches and their current market situation? Do you perceive them as commercially successful products in the long run? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!