Swatch Group is well known in the watch-making world for its colorful and iconic watches. In fact, according to statistics, Swatch products account for about 18 percent of all watch sales worldwide, yet the company has never sold a product capable of the type of technology created by rival industries, such as Apple, Motorola or Pebble.
However, that is changing as Swatch Group has recently announced that it will produce its first technologically enhanced smartwatch in May 2015. While it won’t have all the features of regular smartphones, it will still boast many functionalities, such as bluetooth and NFC or Near Field Communication, which enables devices in close proximity to communicate with each other via radio signals. A chip for the technology is placed into watches and other wearable devices to perform various actions, such as pay for items in a store, open locks and even open some hotel room doors. Swatch expects to have these new additions to its smartwatch in about two months, while its products with Bluetooth are expected to be available sometime in summer 2015.
Swatch has partnered with the China UnionPay, a Chinese credit card association, to provide this service. It has also been reported that the company is currently negotiating with VISA.
One advantage Swatch Group does highlight is that their products can operate on less power when compared to other brands that require their devices to be charged everyday. In fact, the company claims that their smartwatch will stay powdered for months before needing to be recharged. However, Swatch Group does not fully intend for its product to compete with the Apple’s Watch OS or Android Wear. Rather, they are aiming to work with a different kind of client.
Some of the new watches will be updates to Swatch’s current brands, such as their fitness tracking watch. There is also waterproof model meant for beachgoers because it allows users to count footsteps, as well as measure the amount of force they use to hit a volleyball.
Many believe this is a step in the right direction for the company, since Swatch Group an established clientele and already makes watches under other names, such as Omega, Breguet, Calvin Klein, and Rado. Other principal watchmakers, like Fossil and Tag Heuer, are also planning to release new technologies, which are scheduled to be shown off in Switzerland at the Basel World Trade Show in the next few weeks.
