Luxury Watch Brands Turning to Google in Fight Against Apple Watch

The Apple Watch is still seen by many in the watch industry as something of a fad - a temporary 'toy' that will never threaten the high-end timepieces produced by some of the world's most famous brands. But is this a sensible view? Many laughed at the concept of the iPhone when it was first released, a handset which has now revolutionised the smartphone market and leaving competitors playing catchup for well over a decade.

It's true that the Apple Watch has struggled somewhat in crossing over from the consumer 'gadget' market to the luxury watch sector, but the sales figures speak for themselves. In the past two years, Apple sold approximately 22 million smartwatches, likely worth in the region of more than $10 billion. Compare that to the exports of Swiss watches - an industry proxy for the luxury timepiece market - which totaled $21 billion in 2016. According to LVMH, home to high-end watch brands such as Hublot and Tag Heuer, Apple boasted a 50% share last year if you go by the number of watches sold.

So while some luxury watches are staying true to their traditions in terms of features, styling and production, a number of forward thinking brands are turning to Google to help them in the competition with Apple (much in the same way phone manufacturers did when the success of the iPhone demonstrated the future of the mobile market).

One such company is the Movado Group, which has confirmed that it's Movado watches brand will release a new lines of smartwatches in the Autumn, each equipped with the latest version of Google's Android Wear software. Debuted at the Baselworld show in Switzerland in March of this year, the new line features five watches, each boasting traditional Movado styling with functionality such as fitness trackers, Android Pay and connected phone alerts.

Movado CEO Efraim Grinberg said he was "proud to add the latest, cutting-edge technology platform" to the smartwatches, noting that the technology will also be available in timepieces from two of its other high-end brands - Hugo Boss and Tommy Hilfiger.

So it seems that some of the bigger players are taking Apple's targeting of the watch market very seriously, understanding that they need to keep up now if Apple are to revolutionise the sector in the same way they did with mobile phones. And, as always, those seeking to compete with Apple are turning to Google for support.