Smartwatches have been around since the 1980s, but it wasn’t until the past few years that they truly became part of mainstream consumer goods. Now, there is not a single tech giant that isn’t working on some variation of the smartwatch or other types of wearable tech, signaling that the future of the industry lies in the easy access that customers have to their devices.
Our list of 5 companies that are making a name in wearable tech
1. Pebble Tech
Country of Origin: USA
Units Sold (2014): 1 Million
Revenue (2013): USD43 million
After a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2012, California-based tech firm Pebble Technology released their pilot smartwatch, aptly named the Pebble Smartwatch. Their classic model lets you see who is calling, texting, emailing without the hassle of digging your phone out of your pocket. A few of the other perks include a battery life that can stretch up to 7 seven days, the ability to track your fitness, and it can go up to 50m underwater, a handy option. It is also available in three colours. The Pebble app store has over 1,000 apps available for its smartwatches.
The popularity of Pebble has been apparent since the get-go. Their Kickstarter campaign brought in a whopping 10.3M in just over a month, the most money raised for a product at that time. When Best Buy began selling them in July 2013, they sold out in less than 5 days. To date, Pebble has four models available – Besides the classic, there is the Pebble Steel, a steel-bodied variation of the classic; the Pebble Time, the second generation model; the Pebble Time Steel, a steel-bodied variation of Time; and lastly their latest model the Pebble Round, made to look like an actual watch and is considered ‘the thinnest smartwatch ever.’
2. Omate
Country of Origin: China
Units Sold (2014): n/a
Market Share: n/a
Revenue (2014): n/a
Another Kickstarter success, Omate appeared on the scene with the TrueSmart in 2013 a few months after the aforementioned Pebble released their smartwatch. Within the first 12 hours of their campaign, they hit their $100,000 goal and finished at just over $1.032M. The first TrueSmart was officially off the assembly line on Sept 13th, 2 weeks before their campaign ended. After some technical glitches and updates, they began shipping the watches in November of that same year.
The TrueSmart is different from other smartwatches as it is a completely standalone communication device. That means it can make calls, use Android apps, and many of the functions of a smartphone, totally independent of the actual smartphone. It is also loaded with some seriously sweet components. It has a scratch-proof Sapphire crystal face, a 720P HD video camera, ultra-sensitive touchscreen, and a 600mAh battery life just to name a few. And naturally it is water resistant. Besides the original TrueSmart, they now have the TrueSmart+, the Omate X, Racer, Roma, the Lutetia designed for women, and Ungaro, a smartring that gently vibrates when a designated person calls or texts.
3. Qualcomm
Country of Origin: USA
Units Sold (2014): n/a
Revenue (FY2014): USD26.5 Billion
California-based Qualcomm Inc. has been in the telecommunication industry for the past 30 years. Qualcomm isn’t known for putting out products as it is primarily a telecom business, which makes their introduction of the Toq so unique. The company introduced the smartwatch in September 2013 at their annual Uplinq event. The Toq was then officially released three months later in December.
While the Toq is not as advanced as others in the industry, for a first product it has potential. Its one standout feature is its reflective Mirasol screen. While the Mirasol technology has been around for a while, it hasn’t been used on a watch. It really brings out the icons and words on the watch face and draws very little power. This is an important feature due to the relatively low-powered 200MHz Cortex M3 processor. You can link the Toq with your Android using Bluetooth and it has speech recognition technology. Another cool feature is the battery is in the watchband.
4. Razer Inc
Country of Origin: USA
Units Sold (2014): n/a
Revenue (2014): USD250 Million
California-based gaming company Razer has been around for 17 years and is relatively unknown outside of gaming circles. Despite this, it is considered the top of its market selling both hardware and software, where most of their competition does one or the other. Their primary focus revolves around gaming products such as mice, keyboards, and laptops. In a move to market a product beyond the gaming world, the company developed the Nabu, a smart band released in December 2014.
The Nabu is a slender bit of technology that will keep you up to speed with everything going on in your life. It is outfitted with an OLED one-colour screen, a 3-axis accelerometer, and a cylindrical vibration motor. Inside it has a lithium –polymer battery which can last up to 6 days. It syncs wirelessly to most current iPhones and Android via Bluetooth LE. One area where it lacks is that it isn’t waterproof. It’s splash-proof, but you cannot submerge or shower with it on. Typical uses include receiving notifications, tracking your fitness, and even tracking your sleep. One cool feature is that the Nabu can detect when another Nabu is in the vicinity. Razer now has an updated version called the Nabu X.
5. Huawei
Country of Origin: China
Units Sold (2014): n/a
Revenue (2014): CN¥288.197 billion
China-based Huawei became the largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer in the world after acquiring Ericsson in 2012. They focus on three areas: telecom carrier networks, enterprise business, and devices. The company has been making phones since 1997 and smartphones since 2010. Now they have ventured into new territory with the 2015 introduction of their new addition, the Huawei Smartwatch.
The Huawei smartwatch is regarded by many to be the best-looking smartwatch on the market. Unlike other smartwatches that is focused on the technological aspects, Huawei has put its efforts in making a premium watch. It has a classic watch face, which you can switch up from the huge selection already preloaded on it, and is circular whereas most are square. It also has a circular sapphire crystal, a first for Android-wear. Other features are a built-in microphone, a barometer, six-axis sensor for motion tracking, a 1.4in AMOLED display, has built-in Wi-Fi, and a lot more. With over 4000 apps to choose from in the Google Play Store, the Huawei smartwatch is ready for anything you need.