Launched in 2014, the Apple Watch will officially celebrate its 10th anniversary on Monday, during the back-to-school keynote. It’s unlikely that the brand will touch on its iconic design that allowed it to become the leader in a market in which it wasn’t necessarily given much of a chance.
At Apple, we don’t like to celebrate birthdays. For its 10th anniversary, the iPhone was only entitled to a new design and a numbered name that became X. The iPhone X celebrated the tenth anniversary of the smartphone at Apple without any fanfare, no fanfare, and no party favors. There’s a good chance that the Apple Watch won’t be entitled to more festivities on Monday, September 9, when it celebrates its decade with a new version that we’re expecting to see the moon for the occasion.
Yet, in the fall of 2014, when it was announced with great fanfare—but nearly six months before its official release—Apple’s smartwatch was venturing somewhat blindly into a segment that was still in its infancy. Above all, it was Tim Cook’s real trial balloon, the first new product launched under the leadership of the man who had taken over from Steve Jobs three years earlier.
A mixed start
A delicate situation with an innovative device, but which was not a “revolution”. Because in 2014, the first connected watches were already massively intended for rather seasoned athletes looking for detailed training data (Garmin, Fitbit, Pebble, etc.). Arriving with a watch with more general public ambitions, in a closed ecosystem (only iPhone owners could benefit from it) and at a higher price than the trendy activity trackers, was enough to make observers doubt.
But Apple doesn’t care and when the American launches on a market, it is to play the leading roles. With a watch, the mission was not easy. It was necessary to make people understand the interest of having it in addition to an iPhone, when many were asking for a substitute.
Apple promised to have the essentials on the wrist and at the fingertips, but it was still necessary to understand the uses. They will ultimately be found by everyone. The square design also put off many users and specialists before seeing its importance in standing out as much as the practicality of displaying notifications without truncating them or hindering reading.
Ten years later, the square format with the iconic digital crown for navigation is the point on which Apple has made no concessions except by increasing the screen and the reading surface (from 38 to 42 mm for the small one, 42 to 46 mm).
It is on the substance that the Californian brand has refined its recipe, moving from a replacement screen for the iPhone with sidebars to track your fitness and health to a real health, sports and well-being guide linked to your iPhone. A strategy that has led to many rivals following in its footsteps.
From luxury accessory to health asset
Apple had initially focused on design to make it a high-end accessory, unveiling partnerships with Hermès, ceramic models, sold in corners of very large luxury stores. With stratospheric prices, reaching 11,000 euros.
While the partnership with Hermès will be extended to the wristband market, Apple is now targeting fitness-conscious users. Over time, the Apple Watch will be enhanced with an electrocardiogram function (Watch Series 4), an oximeter and even menstrual cycle tracking. For Apple, the message is now clear: the Apple Watch is an essential ally for health.
“The reality is that Apple has succeeded in creating a new product category with the Apple Watch,” says Forrester analyst Thomas Husson.
“Apple has become an undisputed leader in the high-end smartwatch market.” And yet, as with the iPhone years before, Apple has not created an innovative product. The company has managed to improve on what already exists, make it sexier and indispensable for many, from workers to researchers, with multiple university or institutional research projects, the integration of the watch into medical monitoring.
Now, the Apple Watch has become an everyday companion, capable of warning you if a loved one falls, reporting a road accident to emergency services, and helping you to stop getting lost.
It comes not only in two sizes, but in a light version (Watch SE) or advanced (Watch Ultra). It is even rumored that Apple would like to offer a version for children, without necessarily having an iPhone. This is already possible with the cellular model pushed to be put on the wrist of the elderly or at-risk people so that their loved ones do not worry.
Putting an Apple Watch on the arm of its users is as much a financial desire – to make it a significant growth lever and compensate for the slowdown in iPhone sales – as it is a public health desire for the Cupertino giant. It is constantly being attributed with desires to make it more and more of a medical device and the stories of lives saved are multiplying. It still lacks a few certifications, in the United States as elsewhere, for the Apple Watch to become an essential for all sorts of reasons.
A market worth nearly 15 billion dollars
The upcoming Watch Series 10 should ultimately not be the revolution hoped for, but the confirmation of the path taken to adapt to everyone’s daily life, whether you prioritize contact with those around you, your health, productivity (it now acts as a dictaphone, photo trigger and call taking) or sports activity. It is not without reason that the Apple watch would have generated around 15 billion dollars in 2023, according to analysts.
Apple has created a market that everyone wants to get in on, from the Google Pixel Watch to the Samsung Galaxy Watch and other smartphone manufacturers dreaming of a similar ecosystem. Apple has added to this a very large ecosystem of third-party players who are quick to offer a good dose of new features with each version of watchOS with a particularly full dedicated App Store.
Now, Apple Watches are sold far more than traditional Swiss timepieces. A shame and heresy for watch purists. But it’s a sign that you can also make something new and useful out of something old that never goes out of fashion. This is undoubtedly the new era that awaits the Apple Watch and its many new functions announced during the back-to-school keynote. But also the best legacy that Tim Cook will leave to his successor: a sure bet for the brand.
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