Wearables smothering Swiss watch business, Fossil CEO says

Fossil will start selling an Android Wear smartwatch in October or November, said CEO Kosta Kartsotis

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.pcworld.com

“I think technology and the whole idea of wearables … has taken some of the oxygen out of the Swiss business,” Fossil CEO Kosta Kartsotis told analysts Tuesday on a call to discuss the watch maker’s second quarter results.  Without mentioning Apple or its smartwatch by name, Kartsotis implied the arrival of tech companies in the fashion world means the industry needs to incorporate technology into its products to stay trendy.  “We also see technology emerging as the latest trend in fashion, with the growing interest in wearable technology inspiring new entrants into the watch space,”  –  It is unclear what impact smartwatches will have on the sale of analog timepieces. Some analysts predict that consumers are more inclined to purchase sensor-equipped devices that do more than tell time. Last week, a report from market research firm NPD Group claimed the Apple Watch was partially behind the largest slump in U.S. watch sales since 2008.  – Fossil sees wearables as a key component of the industry’s future and the company is developing three product categories around the technology.

See on Scoop.it – Wearable Tech and the Internet of Things (Iot)