[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] Google is joining the global smartwatch war led by Apple Watch. It is expected to launch its own smartwatch equipped with healthcare features such as heart rate monitoring in the first half of next year. Following Google, Meta (formerly Facebook) has also announced its entry, making the wrist-worn device battle even more intense in the future.
According to US IT media The Verge on the 4th, Google will release a smartwatch codenamed 'Rohan' as early as March next year. According to the expected images revealed by famous IT tipster John Prosser, it features a round display with a bezel-less design. It supports healthcare functions that allow users to check step count, heart rate, and more. Google is known to equip not only its own OS, Wear OS, but also its own system-on-chip (SoC).
Currently, Google's own smartwatch development is handled by the Google Pixel hardware group. However, it is still uncertain whether the product name will be 'Pixel Watch' as previously reported.
Google is not the only big tech company announcing its entry as a latecomer to the smartwatch market. Facebook, recently renamed Meta, is also expected to launch a smartwatch sometime next year. Meta's smartwatch is reported to have curved edges and a camera installed at the bottom of the front display. If it introduces a product equipped with a camera capable of video calls and video conferences, it is expected to secure differentiated competitiveness from existing products as a latecomer.
Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD has also been reported by foreign media to be launching its own smartwatch. This product is expected to be used like a 'smart key' that opens and closes the doors or windows of BYD cars.
In recent years, the smartwatch market has shown accelerated growth. According to market research firm Research and Markets, the global smartwatch market is expected to grow from $59.02 billion (approximately 69.7 trillion KRW) this year to $99 billion (approximately 116.9 trillion KRW) by 2025.
According to another market research firm, Counterpoint Research, global smartwatch shipments in the third quarter of this year increased by 16% compared to the same period last year.
Especially, Samsung Electronics, which introduced the 'Galaxy Watch4' in the second half of this year, achieved the highest quarterly shipment volume in the global smartwatch market in the third quarter, securing the second place in market share. The Watch4 series is characterized by using Google's Android-based Wear OS instead of the existing Tizen OS, expanding the app ecosystem. It has also introduced new healthcare features such as body composition measurement, receiving positive responses.
Lim Sujeong, senior researcher at Counterpoint Research, said, “The shipment volume of the Watch4 series was higher than expected,” and analyzed, “Samsung Electronics is expected to release low-priced models targeting the Asian market within 2 to 3 years to increase its market share.”
Apple continues to hold its dominant position. However, its market share fell by more than 10% year-over-year due to the delay of the 'Apple Watch 7' launch to the fourth quarter.
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