While wrist watches are being replaced by the mobile phone, they will continue to have staying power by going upscale and becoming luxury it...
While wrist watches are being replaced by the mobile phone, they will continue to have staying power by going upscale and becoming luxury items.
A watch used to be a rite of passage as part of growing up, something that your parents would buy for you when you were “old enough” to tell the time.
But in a world which mobile phones and smart phones do everything from tell the time to the humidity and even your elevation, why would you need a watch anymore? Especially with generation-y and the kids after them, a massive number of people are used to looking at the time via their iPhones, Blackberries and Nokias.
Statistics have shown that the global sales of watches have been in constant decline since 2005, even after accounting for the economic recession that hit the United States
For watch lovers however, there is no need to fear that the wrist watch will be consigned to the dustbins of history, as watches are a direct parallel to the fate of fountain pens.
Once common in every school child’s and office workers stationary, the invention and mass production of the cheap ball pen was thought to drive the fountain pen to extinction. It has survived those predictions by shifting to targeting enthusiasts and the niche luxury market, where prices can reach over US $1000 per pen. In fact, an industry report forecasts that between 2009-2014, watch demand will expand 5.9 percent annually to US $4.0 billion with multiple purchases of luxury watches leading the way.
While for the most of us wrist watches will be replaced by our cell phones and no longer be a necessity, they will certainly still be here to stay.
Photo credit: hjrosasq
Statistics source: Freedonia Focus in Jewelry, Watches and Clocks, November 2010
But in a world which mobile phones and smart phones do everything from tell the time to the humidity and even your elevation, why would you need a watch anymore? Especially with generation-y and the kids after them, a massive number of people are used to looking at the time via their iPhones, Blackberries and Nokias.
Statistics have shown that the global sales of watches have been in constant decline since 2005, even after accounting for the economic recession that hit the United States For watch lovers however, there is no need to fear that the wrist watch will be consigned to the dustbins of history, as watches are a direct parallel to the fate of fountain pens.
Once common in every school child’s and office workers stationary, the invention and mass production of the cheap ball pen was thought to drive the fountain pen to extinction. It has survived those predictions by shifting to targeting enthusiasts and the niche luxury market, where prices can reach over US $1000 per pen. In fact, an industry report forecasts that between 2009-2014, watch demand will expand 5.9 percent annually to US $4.0 billion with multiple purchases of luxury watches leading the way.
While for the most of us wrist watches will be replaced by our cell phones and no longer be a necessity, they will certainly still be here to stay.
Photo credit: hjrosasq
Statistics source: Freedonia Focus in Jewelry, Watches and Clocks, November 2010
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