Future of Applewatch

palak_letsbegin

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Hello All,

From the strategic point of view, it looks like that Apple?s majority target market is Women. Although men own more Apple watched than women.
I was thinkinh what other features should Apple roll out in order to be more attractive to women?

Best wishes,
Palak
 

robertk328

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Welcome to iMore!

What makes you think the Apple Watch is targeted to women? Or was that just incidental commentary to the rest of your question? I would think if Apple's target market was women and they weren't hitting that, they would make changes. Other things such as band selection and with both men and women featured in ads, it doesn't fit :)

Are you thinking about accessories, or an app? Is this something you're looking to create and/or develop to get more women interested in the watch?
 

Just_Me_D

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Hello All,

From the strategic point of view, it looks like that Apple?s majority target market is Women.
I disagree, and I've seen no evidence to support your view.
Although men own more Apple watched than women.
I've probably seen an equal share in my area.
I was thinkinh what other features should Apple roll out in order to be more attractive to women?

Best wishes,
Palak
The new rose gold color should be quite appealing to women in my opinion, but still, there are tons of bands to attract women to the Warch and have attracted women to it. Again, you're assuming that because more men possibly have an Watch than women that it is somehow unappealing to women and is in contrast to the "strategic point of view" you mentioned. The price of the Watch is probably more of a factor than anything else, regardless of gender, in my opinion.
 

Rob Phillips

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I'd say Apple is pretty balanced in its marketing. They offer two sizes, 38mm (usually worn by women) and the larger 42mm (usually worn by men). They've incorporated masculine and feminine options as well.
 

dejanh

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Please elaborate why the design makes it geared to women.
Square face, heavily rounded edges. Diminutive size even for the large face (remember, Apple is measuring the vertical size, where as a traditional watch would be round and the measurement would be the diameter). In fact, the 42mm watch is less than 40mm wide, which is very small. Heavy use of polished metal and highly reflective surfaces make the design more flashy, something that is typical of jewellery, like bracelets, which are (gasp!) most of the time worn by women. This is not even getting into the combinations of colors and materials. Even the metal bands are not that substantial, with the mesh type band clearly being geared towards women (it really looks like a bracelet), and the link band appearing at best to be a throwback to Casio digital watches (this is as "manly" as it gets for Apple watch). If you're an average NA male with an average build the 42mm Apple watch looks diminutive. The 38mm variant looks like you stole it from a kid.

In all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, however, the design is clearly geared towards women, whether the men who purchased the watch want to admit that or not. I do not expect Apple to limit their market explicitly, but the decisions made around the design are clearly pushing them into a certain type of demographic.

As a parting note, look at the most expensive variant of the Watch, Watch Edition. There are all of two variants that are something you would typically find in men's watches, and the rest are all clearly targeted at women (white, pink, red, midnight blue, etc.).

Here is some decent, albeit not so rosy, commentary on the Watch in general https://medium.com/@flyosity/inconvenient-truths-about-the-apple-watch-11bafa44551b#.4zcdu46a2.
 

iphone5s

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Square face, heavily rounded edges. Diminutive size even for the large face (remember, Apple is measuring the vertical size, where as a traditional watch would be round and the measurement would be the diameter). In fact, the 42mm watch is less than 40mm wide, which is very small. Heavy use of polished metal and highly reflective surfaces make the design more flashy, something that is typical of jewellery, like bracelets, which are (gasp!) most of the time worn by women. This is not even getting into the combinations of colors and materials. Even the metal bands are not that substantial, with the mesh type band clearly being geared towards women (it really looks like a bracelet), and the link band appearing at best to be a throwback to Casio digital watches (this is as "manly" as it gets for Apple watch). If you're an average NA male with an average build the 42mm Apple watch looks diminutive. The 38mm variant looks like you stole it from a kid.

In all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, however, the design is clearly geared towards women, whether the men who purchased the watch want to admit that or not. I do not expect Apple to limit their market explicitly, but the decisions made around the design are clearly pushing them into a certain type of demographic.

As a parting note, look at the most expensive variant of the Watch, Watch Edition. There are all of two variants that are something you would typically find in men's watches, and the rest are all clearly targeted at women (white, pink, red, midnight blue, etc.).

Here is some decent, albeit not so rosy, commentary on the Watch in general https://medium.com/@flyosity/inconvenient-truths-about-the-apple-watch-11bafa44551b#.4zcdu46a2.

Yes, I agree with your summary and yes, I also own an Apple Watch. I would say the same holds true [ in the design and materials ] about the iPhone. I also wonder how many men have purchased the iPhone or the Apple watch for their female, or male partners?

It certainly would be interesting to be a fly on the wall where Apple's decisions are made regarding this topic.
 

dejanh

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Thanks for sharing your point of view. Take care.

We appreciate your opinions. Apple does a lot of things with colors I don't like. But the Watch isn't one of them.

I guess.

And it's not about not wanting to agree so much as not agreeing.

Enjoy :)

I would love to hear your alternate perspectives, if you'd like to share them in a constructive manner that actually builds a logical argument as to "why" the watch is not geared towards women. Do note that stating it isn't because Apple isn't marketing it as such or because men buy it is not proof, rather an equivalent of begging the question.

Back to the original question by the OP, the primary turnoff is likely the price point combined with the intrinsic lack of perceived value in buying technology as jewellery, while full-well knowing that the technology component of it will become obsolete in 2-3 years at most. In other words, there is no lasting value in the Watch which goes against the traditional norms of watch buying at the given price point, therefore not making the Watch very desirable to own. It's a bit like paying a Manolo Blahnik price for a pair of seasonal Aldo shoes.

Guys buy it for novelty. They don't care so much about the look or lasting value, they just want gadgets (I know, gross generalization).
 

robertk328

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I would love to hear your alternate perspectives, if you'd like to share them in a constructive manner that actually builds a logical argument as to "why" the watch is not geared towards women. Do note that stating it isn't because Apple isn't marketing it as such or because men buy it is not proof, rather an equivalent of begging the question.

I did, in the second post :) But I used a logical argument which you are not allowing. I guess it's too constructive!

- watch band selection (darker colors that tend to be more masculine)
- space black with link bracelet option is about as masculine as it gets
- marketing. Regardless of your disqualification of that as a valid perspective, it's true. Victoria's Secret items are geared towards women*, but you don't see men wearing their products in their ads for a reason.

I do agree with the men will buy it because it plugs in but I will also argue there is a strong contingent of women who fall into the same rabbit hole!


*though you COULD make the argument they're geared towards men! ;)
 

Just_Me_D

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.....the primary turnoff is likely the price point combined with the intrinsic lack of perceived value in buying technology as jewellery, while full-well knowing that the technology component of it will become obsolete in 2-3 years at most. In other words, there is no lasting value in the Watch which goes against the traditional norms of watch buying at the given price point, therefore not making the Watch very desirable to own. ....
The above is spot-on, in my opinion, and it has nothing to do with gender targeting. Now if you want to say that Apple primarily targeted women in regard to the Watch, knock yourself out. Some people will agree with you and some people won't. I'm one of the ones who disagree. The Watch is a piece of tech, not jewelry, and if anything was geared toward women it would be the 38mm watch version instead of the 42, but that's just my opinion.
 

ab21au

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I also agree with the last posts, I do not think it is specifically targeted to women. I am male and wouldn't want any larger than the 42 which is also the size DW would purchase for screen size, although she would normally wear a smaller size watch.

The sports band colors are bright and typical Apple and not targeted towards women IMO. A darker shade of blue would be a welcome addition.
 

PoisonMaps

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I don't think that the Apple Watch is aimed at either gender. I think there are options in terms of size, colour and style of band that are clearly aimed at either men or women, but the overall concept is gender neutral.

I think the face is square because that is the most efficient use of space for most apps, which tend to show lists. You just need to look at round smartwatches to see how much of the screen space is wasted when showing list of emails or texts for example. And screen space is at a premium on a smartwatch, so having a shape that makes best use of it seems logical.
 

Shanicenicolle

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This argument is like the uproar over Target getting rid of the boys and girls toys signs... Colors are not tied to your genitalia. Gender roles are social constructs. People will find beauty in things and ways to wear the Apple Watch despite what is between their legs. As far as marketing (which is what actually tells you who it's geared towards) it seems to be fairly evenly split.
 

OverseerMG

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I'm having a hard time finding information on the build quality of the Apple Watch. I've heard that the Apple Watch was made of very cheap material and it is 95% profit for Apple. Any info would help, please.
 

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