Switzerland’s watch exports continued to decline because of the emergence of the Apple Watch and the fluctuations in the currency markets. It is reported by Business of Fashion, citing data from the Federation of the Swiss watch industry. In the third quarter of 2015 the export of watches from Switzerland fell by 7.2%. This is the worst result for the quarter since 2009.
Today watches are a tenth of the whole share of exports of Switzerland. However, the projections for this category of goods is one of the most pessimistic. Among the reasons for this sharp drop in shipments of Swiss watches experts say that the increased competition with Apple. More and more people are switching to smart watches, where the unconditional leader are the “smart” gadget is an American manufacturer.
According to a study by Strategy Analytics, in the second quarter of 2015, the market share of Apple smart watch was 75.5%. Analysts suggest that the launch of the Apple Watch put pressure on low and mid price range of Swiss watches.
Another reason for falling sales – growth rate of the franc against the Euro, causing the Swiss watchmakers it is becoming harder to “market fluctuations”.
According to analyst reports, the demand for wearable devices has increased dramatically after the release of the Apple Watch. It is expected that in 2015 the release of gadgets, worn on the body, on a global scale will reach 45-50 million units, which is 125-150 % more than the previous year, when manufacturers shipped about 20 million units.
