According to a recent article published by Bloomberg, the Swiss watch industry suffered their biggest slump in six years.
Right after Apple Watch was unveiled, Jony Ive predicted that the Swiss watch industry would be in trouble once the Apple Watch hits the market. Numerous experts didn’t believe in this prediction, saying that Apple wouldn’t be able to take on these centuries-old companies. However, Bloomberg reports that Apple Watch made a significant hit:
[quote]Shipments declined 12 percent to 2 billion Swiss francs ($2 billion), the Swiss customs office said in a statement Thursday. Adjusted for fewer working days, the drop was 7.6 percent. Exports to the U.S. dropped 12 percent.
“2015 has been one to forget for the watchmakers,” said Jon Cox, an analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux in Zurich.[/quote]
“2015 has been one to forget for the watchmakers,” said Jon Cox, an analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux in Zurich.[/quote]
Interestingly enough, both higher- and lower- end brand are being hit hard, especially in Hong Kong, which is one of the world’s biggest market for Swiss watches.
[quote]The industry is pulling back in the island city, with TAG Heuer shuttering a store there in August. Richemont, the maker of Cartier jewelry and IWC timepieces, has said its sales declined in October on weak watch demand.[/quote]
Swatch co-inventor, Elmar Mock, has said after Apple’s smartwatch was officially launched that “anything in the price range of 500 francs to 1,000 francs [US$500-$1,000] is really in danger”.
On the other note, Tag Heuer CEO, Jean-Claude Biver gave a different opinion where he thought that “Apple will get young people used to wearing a watch and later maybe they will want to buy themselves a real watch”.
Tag Heuer is the first company of this kind of introduce their own smartwatch, which clearly shows that Apple has already left its mark on this industry.
