For many consumers and tech industry watchers, the race to put smart things on wrists was just a scrimmage until Apple finally emerged from its lab with its entry. To many, the Apple Watch was supposed to define the rules of the race, the way forward. It was supposed to be functionally innovative. It was supposed to be special.
The Apple Watch has been competing in the smartwatch market for a year now and the public's response to it is a mix. The criticism of the Apple Watch predates the launch of the smartwatch, which early views and leaks revealed would have a relatively short battery life.
After getting used to the idea of constantly charging, consumers and analyst soon found fault with the watch's responsiveness and features, such as native apps that weren't available at launch.
Circling back to the here and now, there has been talk suggesting the Apple Watch is a flop. And it is.
The Apple Watch is a flop in that it failed to live up to some of the loftier of predictions and the castles of air built on them. But in terms of being special and taking the lead in the smartwatch market, the Apple Watch is certainly not a flop.
In the Lead
The Apple Watch has been losing steam, but Apple's working to finish up a follow-up that's expected to launch later this year.
Despite losing about 11 percent of its share during the first quarter of this year, the Apple Watch still a commanding 52 percent market share, according to data from Strategy Analytics.
Apple's closest rival in the smartwatch market is Samsung, which, through several Android Wear and in-house Tizen OS smartwatches, holds about a 14 percent share of the market. Contributions from everybody else, LG and Motorola and plenty others, accounts for about a 33 percent share of the smartwatch market.
Watch Your Back
The Apple Watch, just one product, put Apple atop the smartphone market in one year's time. But it appears the honeymoon for the first version of the Apple Watch is over, according to Cliff Raskind, Director at Strategy Analytics.
"Future traction for Apple Watch 2 will be closely linked to compelling apps that better exploit the usability of wearable tech, while offering autonomous 4G connectivity and enhanced battery life -- all if which are in rather short supply today," Raskind said.
The Apple Watch 2's challenge may be tougher than what its predecessor faced, as the market continues to swell and the Wear watches mature. That roughly 11 percent market share the Apple Watch lost during Q1 was claimed by the rest of the field, which doesn't include Samsung — Samsung lost about two percent of its share during that time.
The Android Wear smartwatches have a few more months to push back the original Apple Watch before the second generation arrives, a few more months to rehearse their counter punches to whatever the Apple Watch 2 is packing.
The Apple Watch 2 is expected to deliver a FaceTime camera and cellular capability. But according to Branding Brand CEO Chris Mason, the Apple Watch 2's most valuable features could be those that attract regular online shoppers. People who buy something online at least once a week are twice as likely to buy an Apple watch as those who don't shop online as frequently, according to the mobile shopping site.
"iPhone adoption didn't happen overnight, so the best thing Apple can do is innovate in these areas to entice buyers," Mason said. "I see them making great strides this year in maturing the marketplace for smartwatches and turning its wearable into a 'must have' device."
