The Fossil Group, marketer of watches under 14 brands and recent purchaser of Misfit, said today that it plans to release “more than 100” new wearable devices this year.
Do the math and it makes sense. The Fossil brand alone has three types of conventional watch-style devices — one with a digital display, one with no digital display, and one with LEDs that act as notification devices — an Android Wear watch, and the Q line of bracelets. Each of them comes in a variety of finishes and bands.
Add to that Misfit itself, with the new Ray and an upcoming connected tracker/earphone combo, plus additional Shines with Swarovski crystals — including one possible model to be solar-powered.
Then think about how any of those technologies could be applied to the other dozen Fossil brands, which include adidas, Burberry, Diesel, various flavors of Armani, and Tory Burch. They differ in style and brand, not technology. Getting to 100 distinct new devices looks more than possible. The reach would be formidable; Fossil Group claims more than 50,000 points of sales from mass marketers, electronics stores, boutiques, and department stores.
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