Timex launches Metropolitan+ smartwatch for Rs9,995
Metropolitan+ will be sold on Amazon India for the first two months for `9,995, before releasing it at Timex's 3,000 retail outlets in India
New Delhi: Timex Group India Ltd on Tuesday launched Metropolitan+, a smartwatch cum activity tracker. The product will be sold on Amazon India for the first two months for ₹ 9,995, before releasing it at the company’s 3,000 retail outlets in India.
“It encapsulates the beauty of a traditional watch and the functionality of an all-day activity tracker," said Anupam Mathur, head (sales and marketing), Timex Group India.
The Indian subsidiary of the US-based watchmaker expects smart watches to contribute about 10% to its revenue in the next two years from 1-2% at present.
The analog tracker, which looks like a traditional wrist watch, comes a month after the world’s fifth largest watchmaker Titan Co. Ltd launched its smartwatch Juxt which also looks like a regular watch with features including incoming call notifications, email and social media notifications among others. Juxt is priced at between ₹ 15,995 and ₹ 19,955. Timex Group, however, launched its first wearable device in India in May.
“We will have more devices. There will be 5-6 new launches across categories, including smart watches, during the current year," said Mathur.
Mathur said Timex will have the advantage over other smartwatch makers due to its wide network of 200 service centres. The company is also increasing its network of exclusive showrooms from 80 to 100 by end of 2016.
“This product is developed in Italy and we are making these in the Philippines. Once volume increases, we may look at assembling these in India," said Mathur.
Timex, which sells 1.5 million watches per annum in India, has been growing at a compounded revenue growth rate of 25% for the last three years. “We hope to maintain this rate of growth in future, if not more," Mathur said.
In the last one year, several companies have launched their smart watches in this market. In August, San Francisco-based Fitbit launched its fitness wristbands in India as it sees India to be among the top five market for the company within next two years. In December 2015, Motorola India launched the Moto 360 collection, introducing five variants of Moto 360 smartwatches starting at ₹ 19,999.
According to a study by Gartner Inc, released on 2 February, the global wearable electronic device market is likely to increase to 274.6 million units this year, up 18.4% from 232 million units in 2015.
According to a November report by International Data Corporation (IDC), about 72.1 million wearable devices will be shipped to India in 2015, a sharp rise from about 26.4 million units shipped in 2014.
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