No more excuses – what must finally come now
The iPhone manufacturer has been successfully selling the Apple Watch for years. Only one point has been ignored to this day: you’re still looking in vain for a store for dials. A missed opportunity for the smartwatch. In the current issue of the GIGA weekend column, I reveal why I feel this way and why this option now has to come with the Apple Watch 8.
Year after year, Apple celebrates with a few new watch faces. This was also the case in June when watchOS 9 was presented. Is this enough? If you really want to customize, you will get nothing. There are countless apps for the Smartwach, but developers are still not allowed to offer watch faces, i.e. dials. Absolutely incomprehensible to me. In my opinion, this feature should finally come now. Maybe as a surprise at the presentation of the Apple Watch 8 in September? It would be desirable.
Freely available and individually developed dials are quite normal with the competition. Whether Google Wear OS or other proprietary systems. Even cheap smartwatches such as those from Amazfit can be decorated with it. However, not always officially. In particular, dials from well-known brands are anything but formally legal. But that’s where Apple’s greatest opportunity lies.
The iPhone manufacturer probably has the best monitored App Store. Everything dubious doesn’t stand a chance and doesn’t even end up in the shop. Dials of well-known brands could be offered for sale officially and protected. Fashion brands in particular are predestined for this, classic watch factories perhaps less so. Just imagine watch faces for the Apple Watch from:
- Gucci
- prada
- Louis Vuitton
- hugo boss
- Bulgari
- tom ford
- Armani
- chanels
To name just a few potential candidates. They could really hold out their hands for their dials. You can’t get them for 99 cents. Maybe more for 20, 30, 50 or even 100 euros. Too crazy and too expensive? Not necessarily. Said brands could, for example, sell beautiful bracelets for the Apple Watch in their shops. They cost even more, like three digits. Anyone who buys them will also receive a download code for the dials. Sort of like a discount. The lifestyle brands can of course also sell the Apple Watch on site.
My thoughts for the weekend: The column aims to provide food for thought and reflect on the week’s “news flood” towards the end. A small selection of previous articles in the column:
There are only winners: Apple, brands and customers
That’s how everyone wins. Apple is selling more smartwatches, brands are expanding their range and benefiting from the Apple image, and customers have more choice when it comes to watch faces. Basically, the already existing Apple Watch Hermès as a business model.
There are also new watch faces in the upcoming watchOS 9:
I can already see the dollar and euro bills in the manager’s eyes. Serious. The money is literally on the street. Now all that would be left for Apple to do is pick it up and willingly share it with the fashion brands. Excuses no longer count, because this idea makes sense and should now be introduced with the Apple Watch 8 at the latest.
