NEWS

Apple applies for circular smart watch patent

Release time:

2016-12-02 11:38

In the smart watch market, Apple Watch uses a square dial design, the industry generally believes that the beauty is not as good as Motorola and other companies launched a round watch. However, Apple has applied for a patent on a round smart watch, and it is possible to launch a round watch dial in the future.

According to U.S. patent reports, on Thursday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office disclosed a patent that Apple had applied for earlier. The patent is related to the design of a smart watch. The application time is June 2015.

However, filing a patent does not necessarily mean that Apple will launch a product containing the patent. Applying for patents is also a competitive strategy for Apple to get stuck in the technology market.

Apple Watch has launched the first and second generation, the company uses a square dial design. Foreign media pointed out that such a dial makes the Apple Watch a reduced version of the Apple phone. In contrast, companies including Samsung Electronics, Huawei, Motorola Mobility and other companies have introduced a round dial design, which looks more like a traditional mechanical watch and looks more exquisite and elegant.

Earlier, there was news that Apple will launch a round dial, but when upgrading the second generation of watches, Apple only made minor adjustments to the appearance.

The overall evaluation of Apple's square dial design in the industry is not high, and some media believe that the aesthetics are weaker than other rival products. Traditionally, a major advantage of Apple's consumer electronics products is excellent industrial design capabilities, but Apple Watch does not reflect this advantage.

In addition to the appearance design of the watch, the user interface design inside the Apple Watch is said to be too bloated and messy, and many software icons are squeezed into a small space, affecting the user experience.

It should be pointed out that the global smart watch market is rapidly plummeting. According to the statistics of the authoritative organization IDC, the global smart watch shipments plummeted by half in the third quarter, of which the Apple Watch family plummeted by 70%. The media pointed out that the rapid shrinkage of the smart watch market exceeded the industry's expectations.

Many consumers believe that smart watches largely repeat the functions of smart phones and do not provide unique "killer" features suitable for wrist wearing scenes. Some buyers no longer wear the smart watches they buy after five minutes of heat.

A few days ago, according to media reports, American smart watch giant Fitbit is preparing to acquire Pebble, the originator of this industry. The company was valued at US $0.7 billion last year, but the purchase price was said to be only US $40 million. Another former wearables giant, Jawbone, is also looking for a buyer.

In the global smart watch market, Apple entered almost the latest time. Cook once hoped that Apple Watch could become a pillar product such as mobile phones and tablet computers. However, in the first year of sales of the product, there was a 70% quarterly slump, which was obviously far from comparable to iPhone.