Watch the Watch
With Google’s (GOOG) $2.1b purchase of Fitbit (pvt) in January, there was little question as to the company’s commitment to the WearO/S, the operating system that captured ~17% share of global smartwatches in 3Q, 2nd only to Apple’s (AAPL) Watch O/S. Much of the share gains seen for Wear O/S (3% share in 3Q ’20) have come from Google’s collaboration with Samsung, essentially merging Wear O/S and Samsung’s Tizen O/S, which was used in the Galaxy Watch 4, but rumors abound that some Google employees have been seen wearing a Google developed “Pixel Watch” that is being tested for eventual release. Google’s hardware honchos have commented earlier this year that an in-house Wear O/S wearable was being developed, although the Fitbit team was still in the early stages of integration.
The “Pixel Watch” would be Google’s first entry into the smartwatch world, which is dominated by Apple, with a number of other smaller brands with shares below 10%, a number of whom have their own operating systems. While the Google Wear O/S has been around since 2014, Google has stayed away from the smartwatch market itself, although it was said to have helped in the development of an LG (066570.KS) watch a few years back that was to be sold as a Google branded product, but was rejected by Google and remained with LG’s line.
While Fitbit’s watch line is oriented more toward a pricing tier of $200 or less, Google’s watch is expected to be priced around $300, putting it more in competition with both Apple and Samsung, so we expect much marketing from Google to attract some of the less budget conscious smartwatch buyers. Samsung’s Watch 4, which has been well received, falls right into that $300 price tier, so would likely face the most direct competition from a Google watch offering, while much of the Apple watch line is a bit higher in price. We expect it will take some time for Google to gain significant traction in the smartwatch space, but a well-developed O/S should help them offer some interesting features, especially as the Fitbit development team becomes an integral part of the process. Expectations are for a release in March or April 2022 if the version being tested does not require major revisions.
The “Pixel Watch” would be Google’s first entry into the smartwatch world, which is dominated by Apple, with a number of other smaller brands with shares below 10%, a number of whom have their own operating systems. While the Google Wear O/S has been around since 2014, Google has stayed away from the smartwatch market itself, although it was said to have helped in the development of an LG (066570.KS) watch a few years back that was to be sold as a Google branded product, but was rejected by Google and remained with LG’s line.
While Fitbit’s watch line is oriented more toward a pricing tier of $200 or less, Google’s watch is expected to be priced around $300, putting it more in competition with both Apple and Samsung, so we expect much marketing from Google to attract some of the less budget conscious smartwatch buyers. Samsung’s Watch 4, which has been well received, falls right into that $300 price tier, so would likely face the most direct competition from a Google watch offering, while much of the Apple watch line is a bit higher in price. We expect it will take some time for Google to gain significant traction in the smartwatch space, but a well-developed O/S should help them offer some interesting features, especially as the Fitbit development team becomes an integral part of the process. Expectations are for a release in March or April 2022 if the version being tested does not require major revisions.
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