What time is it? Checked the screen’s clock did you? OK, now go and ask those colleagues around the coffee table what it is. Go on.
Notice something?
How many of them used their cell-phones to check the time? Has anyone else noticed this but people have stopped wearing watches!?
The most frequent use of the mobile phone today, PSFK would argue, is not for making secret calls or flirty text messages – but to check to see what time it is!
Sales volumes of
Swiss plastic watches fell 25.1% during the first two months of the
year to 1.2mn units, according to the Swiss watch-making federation. PSFK assumes that this trend won’t affect the upper end of the watch market but what does this mean for the lower priced lines of Swatch? And what does this mean to any new entrant thinking there’s a market for disposable watches?
Facebook
Twitter
Digg
Reddit
StumbleUpon
I’ll admit I’m mildly obsessed with watches. I would never be without one but I have at least annecdotally seen evidence over the past several years of fewer and fewer friends wearing them. I have also noticed that among the people who do, concerns of style are paramount. I think what may be emerging is a trend for certain sectors of society to abandon watches while others cling to them as a piece of cultural/status identity.
What am I saying… watches are worthless relics, especially ones made by Tissot, Panerai, or Breitling.
The more tech merges the more we are likely to see dual branding in this area as well. Excellent question about easyWatch. Swatch wasn’t about the watches. Not that they weren’t cool but what really sold them over other cheap watches was the brand. No one showed up at school saying, “Check out my new Armitron watch.” easyWatch is no cheaper or better designed than all the watches crowding the convenience mart impulse buying section. Without price point, instant gratification or stellar design I don’t see their edge. I don’t think low overhead alone is going to cut it for them.
April 29th, 2005 at 12:01 pm