With its Pixel Watch set to debut Thursday, Google has an opportunity to make up for misplaced time by giving Android smartphone house owners a worthy smartwatch — and giving them a greater cause to not change to Apple merchandise.
On Thursday, Pixel telephones and watches will share the highlight with sensible residence gadgets and different {hardware} on the Made By Google fall product launch occasion in Brooklyn, New York. If the Google machine division succeeds, its smartwatch might encourage clients to remain within the Android fold the best way Apple Watches make it onerous for individuals to dump their iPhones.
See additionally: This is the place you may discover our reside weblog for the Google Pixel occasion.
The Pixel Watch could possibly be the lacking ingredient in Google’s lineup of gadgets that may assist lock you into its world of services and products. Google has loads of different merchandise like thermostats, Wi-Fi routers, sensible audio system and networked doorbells that it could deliver to this broad ecosystem competitors. Anticipate to see a bunch of them on the Brooklyn occasion. However these do not hold Android customers from defecting to iPhones because the Google Dwelling app that manages them runs tremendous on Apple merchandise, too.
A watch, alternatively, is a extra private machine.
“One of many issues that’s holding individuals locked into Apple’s ecosystem is as soon as you purchase an Apple Watch, it is actually onerous to depart,” mentioned Techsponential analyst Avi Greengart, noting the Pixel Watch will play a crucial position within the Made by Google occasion.
This 12 months, the iPhone surpassed gadgets operating Android, Google’s cell software program, for the primary time since 2010 because the smartphone of selection within the US. Apple’s cellphone dominance comes from benefits like sturdy product design, loyal clients, a wealth of apps and efficient advertising. Apple CEO Tim Prepare dinner has additionally crowed concerning the fee of people that have dropped Android to make the leap to iOS.
Whereas the large tech firms like Google and Amazon have created households of interconnected gadgets, nobody does it higher than Apple. Equipment just like the Apple Watch and AirPods work harmoniously collectively, reinforcing every others’ strengths and discouraging individuals from dumping one product or one other. The Apple Watch solely works with iPhones, making it onerous for customers who spent $399 on an Apple Watch Sequence 8 to change to Android.
Conversely, Google’s Put on OS software program hasn’t caught on extensively. Apple’s Watch OS-powered Apple Watches locked in 29% of worldwide smartwatch shipments within the second quarter of 2022, making Apple the one greatest firm by far, in keeping with Counterpoint Analysis. Whereas Android makers create cutting-edge telephones, not having sturdy smartwatch software program made it onerous to compete towards Apple, and Google itself had no smartwatch product in any respect.
The primary Apple Watch arrived in 2015, the 12 months after Google introduced its Put on OS software program effort. Apple’s preliminary gross sales pitch was considerably muddled — was the Apple Watch a helpful digital timepiece or an costly vogue accent? However the firm hit its stride with regular annual enhancements that cemented its smartwatch as a instrument for communication, well being and health.
Google struggled to realize Put on OS success regardless of help from vogue manufacturers equivalent to Fossil and Michael Kors. Prime Android cellphone maker companion Samsung deserted Put on OS for its personal Tizen OS as an alternative. That rift solely started to heal when Samsung got here again to the Google fold with the Galaxy Watch 4 in 2021.
For the Pixel Watch to succeed, Google might want to give us a superb cause to purchase it, like superior AI options and integration with Android telephones and Google providers. That will assist not simply Google’s {hardware} division income, however the entire Android world.
An excellent watch now might be as essential as a superb cellphone for buyer loyalty. “I really would argue that fairly a number of clients stayed with Apple due to Apple Watch, and never essentially due to the iPhone,” mentioned Inventive Methods analyst Carolina Milanesi.
Milanesi suspects Google’s {hardware} division, Made by Google, merely hasn’t had the funding and employees to compete successfully towards the Apple Watch.
“We all the time want to consider Google versus Made by Google,” she mentioned. “I believe that Made by Google nonetheless has restricted assets.”
