Smart watches more hype than reality, claims Fitbit executive

An Apple Inc. Apple Watch Sport smartwatch displays instructions in Japanese characters. Photo / Bloomberg

Even with a heavyweight like Apple in the market, smart watches remain more hype than reality and have yet to prove they're useful, says Fitbit, the biggest maker of wearable devices.

"Consumers are still asking, 'Why do I want one? Why do I need one?"' says Woody Scal, Fitbit's chief revenue officer. Fitbit's wearable fitness trackers still have an edge over the more complex devices because they have a longer battery life, cheaper price range and a more clearly defined audience, he says.

San Francisco-based Fitbit is aiming to maintain its dominant lead in the wearables market, where it sold about 4.4 million devices in the second quarter, according to an August report by market research firm IDC. Second-quarter revenue more than tripled to US$400.4 million ($638 million) from a year earlier.

Competition is mounting, with China-based Xiaomi, Jawbone and Samsung vying for a piece of the action. Apple beat analysts' expectations for its watch, selling an estimated 3.6 million units, IDC reported.

At a product event yesterday Apple revealed a new larger iPad, a stylus and new version of its iPhones; plus a new collection of Apple Hermes watches and watchbands.

Fitbit users typically have clear goals in mind when buying a fitness tracker, Scal said. Though smart watches also come with health-monitoring features, like step-counting, Scal said smart watches' short battery lives put them at a disadvantage to Fitbit's products, which can go days without charge, meaning consumers can track their sleep overnight and monitor their heart rates around the clock.

Apple has said its customers love the watch - 97 per cent were satisfied with the device and said it was improving their health and daily routines, according to a survey.

"The feedback from Apple Watch customers is incredibly positive and we've been very happy with customer satisfaction and usage statistics," CEO Tim Cook said in July. He said the Apple Watch was still in its infancy in terms of applications and uses still to be developed for it.

Scal also touted Fitbit's lower prices, which range from about $60 to almost $250 for its newest product, the Surge, which has call and text message notifications. Apple's watch starts at $349.

- Bloomberg