No. These stats are based on exports of watches out of Switzerland by all the Swiss watch companies. 3% declining is pretty big, IMHO, definitely big in terms of retail sales (notice what happens when a company like Apple for instance, says unit volumes down 3%... BLOODBATH).... and the slope of the line continues to get sharper in the downward direction.
I am curious are there any stats on the watch repair industry? when do you guys think it might spike? i am guessing after xmas? everyone gets a new watch for xmas and messes about with it?
My business never sees a spike or decline....it's over the top crazy busy 100% of the time... There is no "watch breakdown season" that I have ever seen...
Probably. If you're buying a bribe watch to someone, perhaps it's safer doing it in HK. The Chinese market really should've taken a harder hit considering how other luxury brands are faring post the toughening up on corruption.
Short reuters video piece Luxury watchmakers rethink affordability (from SIHH) http://www.reuters.com/video/2016/0...ability?videoId=367111921&videoChannel=117760
I think the Apple Watch pricing is instructive. You can get in for $350, if you want gold you can run up to $17,000 but the top end of non-gold is $1100. Apple for the new buyer is considered top end. I think you can win the battle that a mechanical watch offers greater fashion and style than an Apple Watch, you can sell the mechanical sets you apart and sets a serious tone (or playful depending on the watch). But Apple tops at $1100 if you aren't getting gold. In another thread I and some others were discussing favorably a $2800 Mont Blanc as affordable. A brand like Tissot considered an affordable option starts at an MSRP of $550 for an automatic and $225 for quartz. My intuition is that a quartz doesn't spur the same emotion as gears and springs but if it is selling at a 57% premium over an Apple Watch that is a hard sell to get a person to put it on their wrist. The Apple threat is less all the crap it does but rather the expectation it sets about price.
I would say a lot of people see watches as fashion accesories, so the longer it lasts, the more you would feel pressure not to replace it with something new every now and then. The Apple watch's live or die will be if it's considered stupid to wear them (as with bluetooth headsets with a flashing blue led) or sort of fashionable (like the iPhone when it broke through). It will compete with fashion watches, not $4000+ Swiss watches, until that point where it'll offer some sort of killer app that makes you feel like granddad for not having one. Payments could be such a function.
But the typical buyer who is going to have an Apple Watch 3-5 years is upgrading iPhone every 2-4 years. The battle is the consumer is looking at the price today not the price over the life of the product.