Apple retains lead in record year for the smartwatch market

According to Counterpoint, Apple retained its lead in a record-setting year for the smartwatch market.

The research giant’s analysts noted how the smartwatch market barely grew in 2020 as COVID-19 still had the world firmly in its grip. However, in 2021, the market staged quite a comeback.

Counterpoint Research’s Global Smartwatch Model Tracker found the market recorded 24 percent YoY growth in 2021. Q4 was the most impressive with more than 40 million units shipped;...

14 March 2022 | Consumer IoT & Wearables

Google looks set to finally debut its Apple Watch competitor in 2022

According to reports, the long-rumoured in-house smartwatch from Google will finally launch in 2022.

Insider reports that a smartwatch from Google codenamed Rohan will launch next year. When it hits the market, it will probably launch commercially as the Pixel Watch.

Rohan is said to have a round design without a physical bezel. Google employees have reportedly been allowed to use the prototype for feedback purposes but claim that it currently needs to be charged...

3 December 2021 | Consumer IoT & Wearables

Oppo could miss the opportunity to launch the first interesting WearOS smartwatch in years

WearOS may need to wait a bit longer for the spark it needs, with Oppo’s upcoming smartwatch appearing to miss a big opportunity..

Oppo has announced that it will debut a WearOS smartwatch on July 31st. The new watch could’ve been the first to market packing the Snapdragon Wear 4100.

Qualcomm’s Wear 4100 is the first true upgrade for a WearOS chip since the Wear 2100 launched in 2016 (a Wear 3100 was released in 2018, but it featured the same main processor and...

24 July 2020 | Consumer IoT & Wearables

Opinion: Pixel Watch is more likely now a decent WearOS processor is available

Rumours of a Pixel Watch are now more believable following the release of a competent WearOS processor.

Unlike wearables from Apple and Samsung, Google relies heavily on third-parties. The main reason WearOS manufacturers have struggled is the inability to access hardware which can compete with the in-house chips used by Apple and Samsung for their wearables.

The main critiques of WearOS devices are they’re slow and have poor battery life. The OS didn’t help in the...

1 July 2020 | Applications