As the Apple Watch launch approaches, one of the most interesting incumbents to keep an eye on is Swatch, the mid-price, design-driven Swiss watchmaker. Swatch has promised at least one smartwatch of its own. In the meantime, it has unveiled this chunky new fitness-oriented device, the Swatch Touch Zero One.
As the Apple $AAPL Watch launch approaches, one of the most interesting incumbents to keep an eye on is Swatch, the mid-price, design-driven Swiss watchmaker. Swatch has promised at least one smartwatch of its own. In the meantime, it has unveiled this chunky new fitness-oriented device, the Swatch Touch Zero One.
It’s a device geared specifically for beach volleyball enthusiasts—“Created with beach volleyball in mind,” the company notes—so it’s not quite fair to compare it directly to the
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But it raises an important question: In the smartwatch era, is a separate device for tracking beach volleyball—or running, or any specific activity—viable? Or will those functions simply become apps on a more general device, like an Apple- or Google $GOOGL-powered smartwatch? And, moreover, can a company like Swatch—with limited software expertise, but a strong legacy of watch design and distribution—effectively compete?
