Part of a series on Smartwatches' possible impact, notably the AppleWatch, on the swiss watch industry.

1. 11/11/2014 iWatch: “Switzerland is in trouble!” | Transformation Hydraulics
Transformation Hydraulics
THOUGHTS ON BUSINESS STRATEGY, AND HOW TO MAKE IT
WORK. BY NICOLAS SCHOBINGER.
“Switzerland is in trouble!” 1
As Apple gets to its September 9 media event, the headlines are likely
to be stolen by its iWatch smartwatch announcement, which, as my
title suggests, stands to disrupt a certain country’s well­known
watch
industry.
My title is a direct quote from Apple’s Head of Design, Sir Jonathan
“Jony” Ive, from last week’s article on wearable devices in the New
York Times.
This statement from a usually understated Brit with first­hand
knowledge of the iWatch, should ring some alarm bells in the Swiss
watchmaking industry, indeed the whole country. And it did to some
degrees as you can see here, here, here, or here.
Swiss watch makers appear to view the iWatch as an opportunity, not
as a threat. Take LVMH’s Jean­Claude
Biver, the CEO of Swatch, who
thinks that ­iWatch:
the arrival of new products is a fantastic opportunity to reach
Sep
08
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2. 11/11/2014 iWatch: “Switzerland is in trouble!” | Transformation Hydraulics
millions of people who do not wear a watch and convince them
to do so. “
Can Swiss watchmakers ever be big players in smartwatches? Not
really. They have tried before (eg Swatch & Microsoft) and they have
all the technologies (eg Rado/Swatch for thin cases, Tissot for touch
technologies and sensors, and Rolex/Swatch for manufacturing
automation, etc). But to be successful, you need more: platforms,
ecosystem and infrastructure. And actually HUGE ones only few
companies can build – Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple.
Can they simply sit at the side­line
waiting for a band­wagon
effect or
for these millions of projected smartwatch wearers to move up to more
classic watches? Not really. I think this is too passive.
How about the iWatch being built in Switzerland?
In an earlier post I laid out what a Swiss­made
iWatch would mean for
Switzerland as a country. I projected it would double the Swiss watch
exports within 12 months, lead to material GDP­growth,
create more
jobs, and enable technology transfer. I even predicted Apple could
possibly become the biggest Swiss watch brand by volume and value
in just its first year on the market.
So, is Switzerland in trouble? We will see.
Worst: The iWatch will be produced outside of Switzerland. They get
the full competition, but no benefits nor windfall profits.
Best: The iWatch is Swiss­made,
and the Swiss watchmaking industry
collaborates heavily in the creation, manufacturing, and maybe even
marketing of the iWatch.
Copyright 2014 Nicolas Schobinger. All Rights Reserved.
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3. 11/11/2014 iWatch: “Switzerland is in trouble!” | Transformation Hydraulics
Related
iWatch
Switzerland: This
all happened
before
Could a 'Swiss
made' iWatch alone
add 1%­point
of
GDP to
Switzerland?
In Smart
Watches In Smart
Watches
Posted in Smart Watches, Transformation
Tagged Apple Watch, swiss made
Edit
Eternal vs.
Ephemeral
[updated]
In Smart
Watches
ONE THOUGHT ON “IWATCH: “SWITZERLAND IS IN TROUBLE!””
STEVEN
— SEPTEMBER 28, 2014 AT 05:50 Edit
I thinkt this is going to be great for the Swiss watch industry. Their
problem to this point has been generations of people not wearing
watches at all. I personally have not worn a watch in 12, 13 years.
However, the smartwatch hype has the potential to actually draw
people beyond the trend and into the world of high­end
timepieces. For
example, until the furor over “iWatch,” I was completely unaware of
the world of “horology.” I knew expensive watches existed, but that
was about the extent of it. Now I’m familiar with names like Patek
Philippe and Audemars Piguet and the tremendous history and culture
surrounding these and other luxury watch brands.
So no, I don’t believe that the Swiss are in any more trouble than they
were previously, but alot depends upon how they react to the
situation. I think that Apple Watch customers will present a
tremendous target market for the Swiss to lure into the world of
upscale watches.
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4. 11/11/2014 iWatch: “Switzerland is in trouble!” | Transformation Hydraulics
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5. 11/11/2014 iWatch: “Switzerland is in trouble!” | Transformation Hydraulics
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