Japanese Citizen watches and the American Fossil Group have announced a “multi-year” partnership to collaborate on hybrid smartwatches. The agreement is said to leverage each company’s strengths by adding “hybrid smartwatch” technology developed by the Fossil Group to Citizen’s full watch manufacturing capacity which we saw first-hand in Japan here. So far, there have not been any products announced, but it seems we can first expect Citizen-branded watches to result from the deal. These are two large and powerful groups that together could potentially have a significant impact on the global wearable market. As watch lovers know, the technology is important, but there is so much more to making successful, broadly appealing watches – and that focus on the look and feel of a “traditional” watch appears to be behind the “hybrid” push.
Then, of course, there are the watch brands under Fossil, which include a number of fashion labels (too numerous to list) which all could market smart or hybrid-style watches, though largely at the lower end of pricing. The most notable companies under the Fossil Group for watch lovers are Zodiac and the group’s manufacturer of mechanical movements in Switzerland, STP, who we visited here. We don’t have too many specifics right now, but it does seem that, with production for third parties included, Citizen and Fossil could be behind a significant portion of future products in this still niche but clearly growing segment.
https://www.ablogtowatch.com/citizen-fossil-partner-hybrid-smartwatch-technology/
