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Fossil CEO: Wearables Smothering Swiss Watch Business

Posted by samzenpus on from the watching-the-watchmakers dept.

itwbennett writes: I think technology and the whole idea of wearables ... has taken some of the oxygen out of the Swiss business,' Fossil CEO Kosta Kartsotis told analysts on a call to discuss the watch maker's second quarter results. These new competitors, along with other factors like a strong U.S. dollar, contributed to Fossil's quarterly revenue decline, Kartsotis said. Last week, a report from market research firm NPD Group claimed the Apple Watch was partially behind the largest slump in U.S. watch sales since 2008.

24 of 202 comments (clear)

  1. Slump? by plover · · Score: 2, Interesting

    "Last week, a report from market research firm NPD Group claimed the Apple Watch was partially behind the largest slump in U.S. watch sales since 2008." And according to the article, "Retailers sold $375 million of watches during the month, 11 percent less than in June 2014 ... a 14% decline in unit sales."

    Put another way, the Apple Watch led the US in the largest sales boost in watch history, with an estimated $4 billion in sales so far.

    It's almost impossible to feel bad for someone who produces such a clearly inferior product get handed their asses when the competition arrives. If Fossil had been producing watches people really wanted, part of that $4 billion would have been theirs.

    --
    John
    1. Re:Slump? by skam240 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      A "clearly inferior product"?

      Any day of the week i will take a finally produced piece of jewlery (what a watch basically is in the 21st century) over a lame fad that at first glance looks like a cheap piece of garbage on my wrist and does nothing usefull that my cell doesnt do better.

      The first time i saw an Apple watch on someone's wrist i honestly thought they were wearing an ironic throwback time piece. Then i realized they were wearing an expensive, highly redundant, cheap looking piece of trash.

      --
      I ignore Anonymous Coward posts. If you want to discuss something, that's awesome. Log in.
    2. Re:Slump? by GrumpySteen · · Score: 2

      The last time I saw an old-fashioned gear and spring driven watch on someone's wrist, I honestly thought they were wearing an ironic throwback time piece. Then I realized they were wearing an expensive, highly redundant, gaudy looking piece of trash that they actually thought would impress other people.

  2. Way to sensationalize! by perryizgr8 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    So now "taken some oxygen out" is the same as "smothering"? LOL! Smart watches are a fad, like tablets. People with money to burn want authentic watches, not expensive toys that need to be charged every other day and get fucked by software updates.

    --
    Wealth is the gift that keeps on giving.
    1. Re: Way to sensationalize! by gstoddart · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Tablets are so much a fad that they're killing your beloved computers left and right. While you're rocking back and forth in a corner murmuring to yourself that all will be well, the world is being changed around you. The choice is yours: ride the change or be pushed away.

      Rubbish. Complete fucking rubbish.

      Despite the breathless anticipation of marketing wankers, futurists, and prognosticators ... remarkably little will change in the long run, in the short run there will be change.

      There will continue to be desktops. Tablets are here to stay. The Apple watch isn't competing with the traditional watch, no matter what anybody tells you, it's a short term blip as a certain kind of consumer buys different things. Not everybody wants a smart watch, and buying a tablet doesn't mean you don't need a PC.

      And then things will settle out, people will still buy traditional watches, the niche market for smart watches will continue to be a niche, and the world will have ultimately changed not as much as you think, nobody will have been pushed away, and you'll still be an idiot who thinks the world actually changes with every new piece of technology.

      Trends and fads are, in the end, are just that. In the long run, actual watches will still exist ... and the clueless idiots who either haven't been around long enough, or are paid to tell us what they think the future will be, will discover that just because some fool says we'll all be doing something in a few years doesn't bloody well make it true. Because it never has.

      So you'll excuse me if I think your breathless belief that the world has fundamentally changed due to the existence of an Apple watch is the breathless gibberish of someone who hasn't been around technology long enough to know the difference between long term and shot term trends.

      Talk to us in 2, 5, 10, or 25 years, and we might take any of this seriously. Until then, this is pink sweat-pants which say "Baby Phat" on the ass -- a mere fucking blip. A trend in style, not a fundamental shift in society.

      The Apple watch, or any smart watch, has yet to prove anything other than, for the time being, hipsters are interested in it. Thankfully, long term trends are seldom defined by hipsters, as much as they like to think otherwise.

      And then the rest of the world will carry on with normal life.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    2. Re:Way to sensationalize! by Tough+Love · · Score: 2

      Smart watches are a fad, like tablets...

      Wrong on both counts. Tablets first. Very solid market segment, lots of good solid reasons to own a tablet, actually, multiple tablets per household. Ask around your neighbors, you know I'm right. My kid keeps swiping my tablets (both...) and I know its just a matter of time before I must part with one permanently (and bring in a newer more powerful one of course). I don't take a laptop on most road trips any more, just the tablet and phone. That's good for doing presentations, working on documents, administrating systems remotely, emailing, chatting, texting, route planning, wasting time with media... basically everything I need to do with the exception of hardcore development. Which you're basically fooling yourself if you think you're going to accomplish anything meaningful while travelling, but that's another story.

      Smart watch. Will be a fine little bauble when it hits its stride. I perceive it as a remote display and controller for your real device - phone, tablet or both. A little postage stamp size navigation map on it would be sweet, you could view it without taking your eyes of the road, and only turn to the tablet when you need to read road names. Even that could be finessed into the watch with decent UI skills.

      Of course, smart watches will be crippled until power consumption issues are under control. It just won't do to need a charge every day. And UI and apps are both far from where they need to be justify the cost, and the cost is way above where it needs to be to get to the tipping point of developer interest. But time will solve all of these issues. Dick Tracy all the way.

      I agree that current smart watch offerings are a sad joke and nobody is getting the Apple watch for reasons of actual utility. Too bad the Swiss don't quite get the plot yet - smart swatches are going nowhere without really tight Android integration. But they will probably get it right on the second or third try, it's not like they're known for giving up.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    3. Re: Way to sensationalize! by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      While I generally agree with much of what you have to say, e.g. things like desktops are here to stay, I also don't think the desktop market is ever going to recover. I think that the number of people who need them at home is doing to continue to decrease as tablets do the things they do on one end, and STBs do them on the other. Again, this is for the home user. All the reasons to use desktops in the corporate space are still there. It only occasionally makes sense to throw that away and move to a portable device; more commonly it makes sense to augment one with the other.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    4. Re: Way to sensationalize! by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 2

      Probably says more about you than the cuff links (not in a bad way, just your exposure). I work in the Finance part of town. It's wall to wall cuff links, slim fit suits, tan brogues and swiss watches. Rich people tend to be conservative, and tend to follow conservative style trends (ie retro rather than techno),

    5. Re:Way to sensationalize! by Darinbob · · Score: 2

      To be fair, Fossil watches are a fad too.

    6. Re: Way to sensationalize! by KGIII · · Score: 2

      There is something to be said for a well tailored suit. I do not even mind a tie, I kind of like it. I am usually a cargo pants, moccasins, wool socks, t-shirt, and a long sleeve (unbuttoned) type of guy but I do love me a suit and tie occasion once in a while. What? Those guys have the best drugs. They won't share if you don't dress like them.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    7. Re: Way to sensationalize! by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      "But by the same token, what does Joe or Jane average do on a PC that a quad-core tablet with 2GB RAM can't do?"

      Uhhh...block ads,

      Does that. Can't imagine an unrooted Android device without Adblock Plus.

      run full programs instead of a stripped down app version

      Right, most people aren't gonna care, because most people don't use all the features. They use a couple of filters in their photo editing software, that's it. They will never use complex layout in Word. Etc.

      have multiple programs running without felling like you are on a P2 running Win98

      Most people only switch between a couple of programs, a 2GB RAM Android device does that fine. I admit 1GB is a little cramped, but 2GB isn't hard to come by any more.

      be able to type quickly (I have yet to see a tablet keyboard that didn't feel worse than a first gen chiclet netbook or didn't make the unit more unwieldy than a netbook)

      The Asus Transformer devices are not significantly more unwieldy than a notebook, screen's a little heavier maybe. Then you get your real keyboard, and you can take it off. I just got mine up to Lollipop after a sort of epic rooting process, but it's old. The 1GB RAM doesn't seem so bad on Lollipop as it did on JB.

      As for your AMD chip? Congrats, it just blows through tasks don't it?

      It's nice that I can run two browsers, Steam, and two games (got to wait for loads and stuff somehow) and have nothing slow down. I could have spent another couple hundred bucks and got much better minimum frame rates out of a quad-core Haswell i5, though. Still, that was mo money. I like to save it.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    8. Re: Way to sensationalize! by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2

      When you wear a tux, you look like a dork. Cufflinks or no.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    9. Re: Way to sensationalize! by undefinedreference · · Score: 2

      Tablets are not killing computers, they are simply computers with different packaging.

  3. Two different markets by The+Fat+Bastid · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Analog watches are jewelry for people who want to make a fashion statement. Digital watches are for people who want a smartphone on their wrist.

    1. Re:Two different markets by gstoddart · · Score: 2

      Honestly, the only people I've ever known who spent more than $5K on a watch ... they also had expensive cars, tailored suits, and don't give a fuck about what people think either.

      That guy in the three piece Italian suit with the gold cufflinks, the Ferrari, and the $15K Rolex ... he doesn't give a crap if you're impressed or not ... and he's beyond the point of needing to spend his money wisely or not. But he's sure as hell not wearing a $20 Timex from Wal Mart.

      The guy who drives the beat up car who works in a shit job who has the over priced watch to look cool? Yeah, that guy is an ass trying to impress.

      The millionaire with the gold Rolex Mariner (among other expensive watches) ... well, he's not really concerned about how you feel about it.

      And the only people I've ever known with watches which cost more than $5K ... well, for them money is a different thing.

      The sudden realization that the guy you're having a beer with is casually wearing a hugely expensive watch, designer (but casual) clothes, thousand dollar shoes, and a few pieces of expensive jewelry ... that can be the moment when you realize you're chilling with someone who is casually wearing more than a lot of people make in a year.

      And those guys aren't wearing it to impress the plebes. That doesn't mean they don't like it when the plebes notice. But they sure as hell don't need your validation.

      And, yes, I have in fact on several occasions realized I was shooting the shit with millionaires over a pint. Some of them are remarkably down to earth and nice guys, even if they are wearing watch which would buy you an entry level car. It's scary to realize someone is wearing an expensive watch as indifferently as if it was a cheap watch ... they're not flashing it at you, it's just there.

      The stupidity of the price of a watch or any consumer item is directly related to just how much wealth that represents to the owner. And I've known a few people for whom that watch would represent only a few days worth of income.

      Hell, I have seen someone busing tables in a suit/shoes/jewelry/watch ensemble which would have paid my basic living costs for 6 months or more ... because it was their damned restaurant, and that's what he happened to be wearing that day.

      Trust me, not everybody with an expensive watch is doing it to impress anybody else.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    2. Re:Two different markets by dunkelfalke · · Score: 2

      You have succumbed to the very protestant "rich people are better people" fallacy.

      The millionaire with the gold Rolex Mariner is not concerned how I feel about it, but he is very concerned about how his peers do.
      It is basic human nature, really.

      Just as it is basic human nature that you are desperately trying to impress fellow slashdotters with you have been rubbing elbows with very rich people.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
  4. Not just wearables but the basic cell phone too by perpenso · · Score: 2

    Its not really wearables, the basic cell phone has dramatically decreased the need for a watch, even for someone old like me. As have most of the devices we use or devices that happen to be in the room with us. Computers, tablets, cable tv boxes, microwave oven, etc.

    Wearables are just the latest device in a long string of devices reducing the utility of a wrist watch.

    My watch wouldn't get used at all if it were not for scuba diving. Besides being old I'm also a software engineer, analog depth gauge and analog watch to backup that dive computer.

  5. Cellphones responsible not Apple watch. by bl968 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sorry I don't buy it. I think the fact that everyone carries cellphones and every cellphone displays the time on the face is what is behind his watch slump. I haven't worn a watch in years and it has nothing to do with apple's product.

    --
    "GET / HTTP/1.0" 200 51230 "-" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; Setec Astronomy)"
  6. Fossils by Sir+Realist · · Score: 2

    I'm not really their market, not wearing a watch or having any use for wearables, but do you really think there's much overlap between the group of people who will buy a high-tech smart watch, and the group of people who would buy technology of any sort from a company called Fossil?

  7. Haha... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Funny

    This story is amusing because a company named 'Fossil' produces obsolete products.

  8. Summary by lennier1 · · Score: 2

    A current fad favors one kind of overpriced status symbol over another. News at eleven!

  9. It really does look like a calculator watch by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 2

    I'm not sure what aesthetic they were going for, but they missed the mark. You can argue about features and such, but it is ugly.

    1. Re:It really does look like a calculator watch by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Funny

      What's wrong with the calculator watch? You're on slashdot, most folks here wore one for years... or at least I hope they're still around here somewhere.

      The last time I thought calculator watches were cool, I was a tween getting beat up for being the kind of person who thought calculator watches were cool.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  10. Fossil Abacus - My first Smart Watch by WoodburyMan · · Score: 2

    What's funny is back in the day, Fossil was one of the first "Wearable" smart watch manufacturers. I had a original Fossil Abacus watch that ran PalmOS 4.x. Black and white display, and had a docking station that used RS232 to sync to my desktop to transfer applications, sync calendar, contacts, etc. It even had a little mini stylus that slid into the watch band. I had this in 2004, more than 8 years before what I consider the first mainstream wearable smart watch the Pebble came out in late 2012 early 2013. They only had a day of battery, and only displayed the time if you hit a button on it, and did have a backlight. I abandoned it in 2006 once the battery life degraded a bit and wouldn't last more than 8-10 hours. Loved it though, was even used to using graphiti to input characters onto the watch, a concept I wish some newer smart watches had. (Character input and touch screens that is). For anyone that wants to check it out, there's a brief Wiki article on it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...