We have heard that Intel and Fossil were working together on some wearable devices, but we finally caught of first peek of them this week at the Intel Developer Forum. Fossil will release 3 devices in total: a connected bracelet, a connected watch, and a smartwatch. The smartwatch is (obviously) powered by an Intel chip and is stylistically similar to the original Moto 360 watch; it is fairly large and thick with a round face that has a flat part at the bottom. It will run Android Wear and is expected to hit the market sometime around the Holidays. Beyond that, very little is known about the 3 devices. Fossil has promised to release more information closer to launch.
The reveal of Fossil’s first smartwatch closely follows news that US watch sales fell the most in seven years. The NPD Group, who conducted the survey, found that smartwatches, especially the Apple Watch, were a large cause of the sales erosion. The segment of the market hardest hit was the mid-tier level where Fossil resides. Unless Fossil has something more up their sleeves, I am not sure this is going to be the success they are hoping for. Already an uphill sales message (after all, what exactly does Fossil know about technology), it is going to take more than a seemingly recycled year-old design running a stock Android Wear OS to get people excited. It will be interesting to see how the market receives the watch, but I would guess “me too” products, as this appears to be, are not the correct path forward for traditional timepiece makers.
