The only new Android Wear smartwatch to be announced at IFA 2016 was the ASUS ZenWatch 3. Other Android Wear partners such as Motorola and Sony notably did not announce new smartwatches. CNET has now learned that Huawei, LG and Motorola all have no plans to release new Android Wear smartwatches this year. Last year, all three announced new wearables at IFA.
Smartwatches have not caught on with consumers the way manufacturers and market analysts expected. Their usefulness remains in question. Consumers have also been put off by short battery life and bulky designs. Samsung even admitted to CNET that most smartwatch consumers are male early adopters.
Google cannot be pleased with this development. Not only is Android Wear 2.0 expected sometime this fall but its competition is not slowing down. Both Apple and Samsung launched new smartwatches recently. While neither is expected to turn smartwatches’ fortunes around completely, it does suggest that they are finding more traction among consumers than Google and its partners. Google will still be able to count on Tag Heuer to showcase its new operating system as the Tag Heuer Connected Watch will be upgraded.
This news does not mean that Huawei, LG and Motorola will not release new Android Wear smartwatches next year. As LG spokesman Ken Hong explained, We want to see what sticks.” This suggests that LG at least and likely all three are looking at new technologies such as smaller modem chipsets to jump back into the market with sleeker and more powerful devices.
It should be noted that LG did release the Android Wear-powered LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE earlier this year.
Source : CNET