Swatch CEO Nick Hayek is saying that the time giant is working on its own operating system, and expects to have something on the market next year. Cautious as it is, Hayek's comments late last week on the eve of the Baselworld watch show are his company's biggest step yet into the emerging market. Hayek's correct objection to the existing generation of smartwatch OSes -- … [Read more...]
Swatch to Sell NFC Watch Next Year
Swatch, the Swiss watchmaking giant, says it will sell an analog watch next year with an NFC payment chip linked to the Visa payment network. The Bellamy line of watches will be sold in the United States, Switzerland, and Brazil starting next year. The first two countries are pretty obvious; Brazil is the home of the 2016 Olympics, of which Visa is a global sponsor. The … [Read more...]
Swatch Joins Connected Watch World with Touch Zero One
We've beaten up Swatch a bit over the past couple of years for its stated rejection of the smartwatch business. The Swiss time giant is now taking a tentative step into that world with a connected activity watch built around (of all things) beach volleyball. There's a degree of method to that particular madness; Swatch is the lead sponsor of a global beach volleyball tour -- … [Read more...]
The End is Nigh, Says Swatch Co-Founder
The Swiss watch industry had a near-death experience when the Japanese started making electronic watches en masse. Now one of the saviors of the Swiss says that Apple, too, presents an existential threat. Elmar Mock, one of the founders of Swatch, told Bloomberg that he thinks Apple will soon sell as many watches as all of Switzerland, and that "[a]nything in the price range … [Read more...]
Swatch to Sell Smartwatch Within Three Months, Says Bloomberg
Remember when Swatch Group CEO Nick Hayek said smartwatches would never catch on? He's changed his tune, and now tells Bloomberg that he'll be selling a smartwatch, complete with an NFC chip for payments, within the next three months. Why the turnaround? Because Hayek did not get to be the boss of the world's biggest watch company by being stupid. It's clear that people want … [Read more...]
Swatch CEO Hayek Whistles Past the Wearables Graveyard
For a company that so thoroughly disrupted its own industry, Swatch is being pretty blithe about the impact of wearables. For those who don't follow such things, the Swatch Group pretty much remade the watch business over the last 30 years or so by standardizing watch movements and relentlessly driving costs down. It's the world's biggest watch maker, and its brands include … [Read more...]