Mobile World Congress: Time running out on smartwatch launches

Richard Yu, the chief executive of Huawei, introduces the company's new smartwatch at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Chris Ratcliffe / Bloomberg

Time may be running out for the nascent smartwatch segment following sluggish take-up in 2016, with few notable launches at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

At this year’s exhibition just one high-profile smartwatch range from Huawei has been launched, with pioneers such as Sony and Lenovo seemingly pulling out of the segment completely.

Huawei unveiled the Huawei Watch 2, one of the first smartwatches to run the new Android Wear 2.0 operating system. Three versions of the Watch 2 will hit stores from April, one of which offers full 4G connectivity via an additional Sim card.

LG meanwhile showed off its LG Watch Sport and LG Watch Style devices, unveiled in early February.

"From a product standpoint there's nothing that knocks my socks off to see here," Gartner analyst Annette Zimmermann told The National.

“What is missing are more standalone functionalities for watches besides sports and health that users find engaging.” The small number of devices on display at Barcelona indicate a cooling of enthusiasm for smartwatches among consumers.

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Mobile World Congress coverage

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■ BlackBerry KeyOne: Welcome return of the brand's trademark keyboard

■ Review: Well-loved Nokia 3310 phone returns as a modern classic

■ Sony launches Xperia XZ Premium – the world's first smartphone with 4K HDR screen

■ In pictures: The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona

■ Samsung reveals new tablets, confirms launch of Galaxy S8 phone on March 29

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Global shipments grew just 1.4 per cent to 21.1 million units in 2016, according to the industry analysts Strategy Analytics, with Apple Watch devices accounting for 55 per cent of sales.

“Smartwatch vendors like Samsung need to launch more exciting or cheaper models [while] Apple must engage closer with mobile operators to stock or subsidise its popular watch portfolio,” said Strategy Analytics director Cliff Raskind.

Gene Jiao, the president of Huawei’s consumer business group in the Middle East and Africa, insisted that smartwatches have a future as part of a range of a wider ecosystem of connected devices.

"As AI [artificial intelligence] becomes more of a reality, the smartphone may be the hub, but it's going to be more and more linked to accessory devices, whether it's smartwatches, smart glasses or other devices," Mr Jiao told The National in Barcelona. "These days it's not enough to talk about smartphones on their own any more."

Sony, whose Smartwatch 3 was an early pacesetter for the segment, did not launch a similar device this year at Barcelona, instead showing off “open-style concept” wireless headphones that sit outside the ear.

Hideyuki Furumi, an executive vice president for global sales and marketing at Sony Mobile Communications, declined to comment on whether or not the company would produce another smartwatch.

Lenovo, an early mover with its Moto 360 smartwatch, also did not launch a new device, focusing instead on its Moto G5 and G5 Plus midrange smartphones.

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