While the likes of Apple and Google are refining and developing their own wearable devices, that doesn't mean that classic companies like Swatch are going to be left behind.
The Swiss company plans to release smartwatches of its own in May, although these watches will not be anything like the full-featured watches being offered by Apple or Motorola.
Instead, Swatch plans to implement certain smart features into some of its watches, such as near-field communications or NFC. The use of NFC will allow users to use their watches for things like wireless payments or to access hotel rooms. It basically consists of a small chip and an antenna. In addition, the watches will not require daily charging.
"We are not a consumer technology company," said Nick Hayek, chief executive of Swatch Group. "We don't want to produce a reduced, minimized mobile phone on your wrist."
Swatch as a company accounts for 18 percent of all watch sales and has consistently increased its market share each year over the past five years. Swatch makes watches through a number of brands, including Omega, Calvin Klein, Rado and more.
Many suggest, however, that Swatch and other Swiss watchmakers' days are numbered because of the increase in popularity of the smartwatch.
"Apple will succeed quickly," said Elmar Mock, co-inventor of Swatch. "It will put a lot of pressure on the traditional watch industry and jobs in Switzerland."
Apple is certainly no stranger to entering markets and quickly shaking them up. The company completely overturned the music industry through iTunes, which shifted the attention of the industry from CDs to digital music. It then quickly ended Nokia's dominance in the phone market upon releasing the iPhone. Because of Apple's history of dominating markets, the response from the watch industry has been a little underwhelming. Multiple times those in the Swiss watch industry have expressed a lack of concern over Apple's entrance into the market.
The Swiss watch market has been threatened in the past. In the 1970s and 80s, 60,000 jobs in the industry were lost when Swiss watch companies underestimated the demand for Japanese-made watches from companies such as Casio and Seiko. In fact, the Swatch itself, a mass-made plastic watch, largely helped the industry survive.
"Unfortunately, I'm reminded too strongly of the quartz crisis," continued Mock. "So far I see watchmakers in this country making the same mistakes as back then. We've seen a lot of arrogance in the Swiss watch industry in the past few years, calling the smartwatch a gadget and not taking it seriously."
