We have said it before, 2016 is poised to become the most important year for wearable technology yet – and we don’t seem to be alone in that thought. Fossil Group has announced plans for at least 100 new wearable devices this year. While you let that soak in, let’s look at what the company has been up to over the past few months. Since October, Fossil Watches has released 5 wearables devices across at least 12 SKUs. In November, Fossil Group acquired activity tracker company Misfit and has since announced 2 new products across at least 3 SKUs. That is right, at least 15 new wearables device SKUs in less than 3 months! This is a company that is prepared to take the wearable category very seriously!
Perhaps more important than the number of new devices Fossil Group is promising is the number of brands that Fossil Group represents. Fossil Group designs, manufactures, and sells watches and jewelry for brands such as Tory Burch, Kate Spade, Karl Lagerfeld, Diesel, Armani, Adidas, Michael Kors, Burberry, and Skagen. The company has made it clear that the new wearables will be spread across several brands and that each will be uniquely in line with the corresponding brand story. That means we should begin to see some very stylish wearable devices this year targeting both men and women that align with a lot of different fashion sensibilities. According to the president and chief technology officer of connected devices at Fossil Group, Sunny Vu, “To do a legitimate fashion tech play, you need to really have the fashion part down, and a large part of fashion is the brand story. There’s a reason why people pay $300 for True Religion jeans and $50 for Levi’s. It’s the brand story that people relate to.” There has been a lot of argument that one of the largest hurdles for wearable technology has been design. Devices thus far have approached design from a technology standpoint and not a fashion perspective. Being aligned with so many iconic brands, we can safely assume Fossil Group will finally deliver a number fashionable wearable devices.
Fossil currently sells wearable technology across 3 different categories. The first is a full featured, smartwatch with display and powered by Android Wear. Second is a non-display, traditional looking watch with “smart” capabilities. The final product category is a straight forward activity tracker with integrated notification ability. Fossil Group sees these 3 concepts as being the guide for the company’s product mix. With company’s recent acquisition of Misfit, it is also looking into integrating the Link technology into future products. Misfit’s Link feature allows you to control your music, turn on a light, or take a photo with your phone by simply touching your wearable device. Vu believes such connected technologies will make wearables more “life relevant” for consumers.
Fossil Group’s announcement of 100 new wearable devices gives us a lot to be excited about as we look ahead in 2016. It is beginning to look like this is the year that connected technology will become widely prevalent, and that more than a handful of fashion accessories will have “smart” capabilities built into them. As more brands begin offering fashionable designs of wearables that target both men and women, we will begin to see the adaption rate to the technology grow swiftly. Fossil is betting big on wearables and we cannot wait to see where it leads!
