Decluttering is a chore. However, at times, doing so brings you down memory lane with the “treasures” you find unexpectedly. Recently, while doing housekeeping, I found not one Pebble smartwatch, but five Pebble smartwatches. I chuckled as I held these Pebbles.
For the uninitiated, the Pebble was the “OG” smartwatch and undoubtedly the poster boy for smartwatch back in the early days of the genre. Back in 2012, Pebble raised over US$10 million on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter, exceeding its target by more than 100 times.
Humble Beginnings
Wearables were still a fledgling genre at the time. I was one of the first tech journalists in Singapore to report on this upcoming category.
It was a time when consumers were starting to get bored with smartphones and the tech world is looking for its next big thing. So, the consumers’ wrist became the next target for tech companies to hit upon.
It was a great time for me to report on smartwatches, as I am essentially a geek who loves watches. I might not own many luxury watches, but I have watches of all kinds from the sturdy Casio G-Shock to the quirky Klokers. Once, my wife counted 60 watches in my inventory (trust me, it is really not that many if you consider the overall volume occupied).
In all seriousness, the smartwatch is not a new concept. In the 1940s, we have comics detective Dick Tracy talking on his two-way wrist radio. In the 1980s, we have Michael Knight wearing a two-way communication wristwatch in TV series Knight Rider.
Before the turn of the century, Samsung actually launched a watch phone, called SPH-WP10, in 1999. In 2003, Microsoft launched Spot, later renamed as super literate “Smart Watch with Microsoft Direct”.
After the Pebble, other smartwatches, such as Cookoo, Martian Watch and MetaWatch Strata, were successfully funded on Kickstarter before going on sale in the market.
Finding its Footing
If you are unfamiliar with the smartwatch brands mentioned above, you can be forgiven, as they have all gone down the annals of tech history. After these small players come the big guns.
The big tech companies, such as Samsung, Asus, LG, and Huawei, were not resting on their laurels. They knew that smartwatches were not a gimmick and could potentially help their bottom line. They soon started rolling out their own smartwatches.
Samsung launched its Gear (now, Galaxy Watch) smartwatch line, Asus introduced its ZenWatch series, LG had its G Watch R, while Huawei will have its Watch series to jump on the bandwagon. Even smaller outfits like Garmin, Fitbit and Withings, also came out with their own offerings.
To be frank, the smartwatches of this era (2010 to 2015) all suffered from either hardware or software issues. They all tried too hard to look like conventional watches with few useful “smart” functions. Battery life was poor and water resistance usually only good enough for you to wash your hand with it.
It took the entry of the Apple Watch in 2015 (first announced in 2014) to reinvigorate the market. Suddenly, there is a smartwatch that works well in both hardware and software. And a smartwatch that no longer needs to be round to sell.
From Fashion to Fitness
While the Apple Watch did put the spotlight on the smartwatch genre, it did not help the overall genre immediately. Apple made the same mistake as the entire industry back then. It marketed the Apple Watch as a fashion and luxury item.
Unfortunately, focusing on fashion was not fashionable. It was difficult to fight against the centuries-old horological brands and fashion institutions.
Not to mention, a smartwatch also negates the need for a fitness tracker, as most people only want to wear one device on their wrists. As such, the smartwatch industry shifted the focus to health and fitness. By 2019, Apple Watch Series 5 has an electrocardiogram (ECG) feature while Fitbit Versa 2 was touted as a “24/7 health and wellness companion”.
Covid-Induced Growth
The continual growth of smartwatch coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Remember the circuit breaker period in Singapore when you can only step out of your house to buy groceries or exercise?
People needed a smartwatch to track their runs or cycles. This is especially so when all the mass sporting events went virtual. There was a need to track those exercises and upload them to the organisers in order to get the “rewards” or medals.
That year, market research company IDC forecasted that the sales revenue of smartwatches in Singapore will reach US$227 million (S$308 million), up from US$181 million in 2019. It is expected to hit US$272 million in 2021. As reported last year in The Straits Times, IDC said the smartwatch market in Singapore has been relatively stable, with around 750,000 units sold each year between 2020 and 2022. In other words, smartwatch sales have been pretty constant throughout the pandemic period.
Looking Ahead
When I started reporting about smartwatches in 2013, the figures were pretty humble.
ABI Research then predicted that 1.3 million smartwatches will be shipped in 2014.
In 2023, 152.8 million smartwatches were shipped worldwide, according to research firm ABI Research. This year, the figure is projected to grow by 12 per cent, reaching 171.7 million smartwatches.
So, over the course of a decade, smartwatch shipments have grown by over 100 times. In fact, Apple has overtaken Rolex as the number one watchmaker in terms of unit sales since 2017.
And I think the smartwatch is just getting started. While I cannot predict the future, I think the smartwatch will only get better. Technological advancements mean smaller, faster, and more power-efficient processors with more accurate sensors can be built into the smartwatch. More innovative health functions like glucose monitoring and sleep apnea detection might soon be a reality.
In 2021, Apple launched the Apple Watch Ultra, which has all the bells and whistles to entice even the most ultra athletes. The titanium-clad smartwatch even came with an altimeter and depth gauge for real-time measurements of altitude and underwater depth, a three-microphone array that reduces wind noise, precision dual-frequency GPS and water resistance of up to 100m.
The industry again responded. Late last year, Huawei launched the Watch Ultimate and this year, Samsung came up with an Ultra clone called the Galaxy Ultra. So, how will Apple respond tomorrow and how will its competitors respond after that? Only time will tell.
Long Live, The Smartwatch
The smartwatch industry today might be vastly different from the time I started reporting on it. Today, Pebble is no more as it was bought over by fitness tracker maker Fitbit in 2017, And in 2021, Fitbit itself was bought over by Google.
However, the Pebble lives on as the Pixel Watch, which looks like a pebble. And the smartwatch, as a whole, will live on too.
The smartwatch started life merely as a wristwatch with some “smart” functions that alert you when you have an incoming call, a new e-mail message or an upcoming appointment—kind of like a ‘connected watch’ than the multi-faced smartwatch of today.
Over the years, it has gained more functions, such as controlling your music player, calling your friends, tracking your runs, opening your doors and paying for your purchases. It is no longer a gimmick but an essential modern gadget for many.
I remember watching Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky showcasing the original Pebble during a press conference in 2013 at the CES consumer tech show in Las Vegas; and being one of the first journalists in the world to have a hands-on with the Apple Watch in 2014 at Cupertino.
“How time flies,” I thought to myself as I held the Pebble smartwatches in my hand. How time flies…
Read Next:- Our Apple Watch 9 and Watch Ultra 2 review, and Why the Apple Watch is a quiet sucess.
Trevor Tan / Freelance Tech Writer
Trevor Tan is a freelance writer who has been reviewing gadgets and games since 2004.
