SAMSUNG GALAXY GEAR NOW AVAILABLE AT RS 14,999

Galaxy Gear is the first Smartwatch from Samsung, the world leader in consumer electronics. One would have expected it to sell like how the Note sold, even after reviews lambasted it for being too big and otherworldly, but that isn’t the same case for the Galaxy Gear. It has received price cuts after price cutsand we are now at a stage in which it sells at a price of Rs. 14,999 in retail, a huge 8,000 discount from the original launch price of Rs. 22,990. The price has fallen by almost 40%, which indicates the kind of demand that the product is getting in the market. Sure, the market is not really a “Smartwatch” market per se, but bundling it with the Note 3 was a clever strategy from Samsung, which unfortunately did not work in its favour.
To be fair to Samsung, there are several forces at play here that have contributed to the non-sales of the product. First, the Gear is a v1 product, so it’s definitely not perfect. It can only get better from here, but a product with limited device support and half baked software are clear indications of a work in progress and people obviously would want to wait. Second, the concept of a “Smartwatch” rather than a “smart” watch was pursued here, basically the Gear positioned itself as an independent device, but it depended on a parent device for a lots of things, we think that didn’t work out with reviewers as well as the few people who bought them. Common examples cited are poor battery life, lack of full fledged support and more. Third is the price of course, which was ridiculous when it launched and still is a big number, for a phone companion.