Smart watch sales falter due to high prices & ugly designs

Smart watches are unlikely to make it on to many Christmas lists this year, with Gartner predicting "lacklustre" sales of the devices over the festive period.

The high cost of smart watches means consumers are more likely to spend their money on tablets and fitness bands this Christmas, according to the market watcher.

Smart watches are being positioned as companion devices for users' smartphones and tablets, and can be used to receive calls, view incoming texts and emails, and even take photos.

Tech firms, including Samsung and Sony, have released devices this year to capitalise on the hype surrounding the wearable computing trend. But Annette Zimmermann, principal research analyst at Gartner, said the products have failed to win over customers.

"Samsung and other well-know vendors have recently entered the smart watch space, yet the products we have seen so far have been rather uninspiring in terms of design, available apps and features," said Zimmerman.

For example, most smart watches have a bulky and unstylish design, which is why the devices have so far failed to achieve mass-market appeal, Gartner said.

The look and feel of the devices is unlikely to be a barrier for early adopters, the research firm added, but will put off mainstream consumers.

"The convenience aspect of using a watch for interaction while leaving the larger-screen phone or tablet in the bag or pocket is something that users can relate to and probably recognise its value," explained Zimmermann.

"[But] users expect more than just more convenience from a new product category that claims to be innovative and priced at $200 to $300."

Particularly as users could buy a basic tablet for the same kind of price, which is what they're more likely to splash the cash on this Christmas, Zimmermann added.

As a result, Gartner said it expects wearable devices to maintain their status as companion devices to mobile phones and tablets until at least 2017.

However, vendors that limit their wares to interacting with smartphones and tablets are unlikely to be successful, said Angela McIntyre, research director at Gartner.

"Even though smart watches place a supporting role' to smartphones, designing the smart watch only to act as a secondary device will consign it to failure," she said.

"Sensors, such as accelerometers, gyroscope, infrared, microphones and cameras, will give software developers greater flexibility to create apps for a broad range of usages."