According to news on November 23, Hongdou shares raised 1.96 billion yuan to carry out the research and development of smart wearable products, including the research and development of smart clothing with LED indication information/pattern series, sound and light sensor series, smart positioning series and smart clothing with comprehensive intelligent monitoring functions. And the research and development of new materials such as polymer fibers and graphene-based fibers. According to news on November 25th, Luxshare Precision plans to increase its value by RMB 4.6 billion, plus 3C and smart wearable devices. Hua Xia Bank also launched a watch bank in response to the occasion, binding devices to obtain more convenient services.
In early November, the American fashion wearable brand Misfit was just acquired by Fossil Group for US260 million. Jawbone, the top three smart wearable manufacturer, announced the closure of the New York office and layoffs of 60 employees, accounting for 15 percent of the total number of employees.
The consumer side also turned cold. Taking the most popular bracelet as an example, the author surveyed a number of peripheral smart bracelet users, and it took more than half a year from early adopters to abandonment. To ask the reasons carefully, the single function is the common experience of many users. The simple display of pedometer, heart rate, sleep time, the monitoring function of these basic data is too monotonous, and it loses its freshness and interest after a long time. Even some mobile phones can also realize the calculation. Step function. Consumers expect something cooler or more valuable, and smart wearables can't give it back.
The question is here, what development trend will the future of smart wear show?
The industry is growing fast, and the lack of continuous innovation can't go far
According to TrendForce's Extension Industry Research Institute estimates: In 2015, the overall wearable device shipments were 68.1 million units, and it will exceed 110 million units in 2016. Because of the low base, the annual growth can still reach 64 percent . Smart wearable products are consumer durables. After consumers purchase the products, the use value gradually appears. If there is no follow-up innovation, this approach will not go far if consumers are only driven by the product's price, appearance and marketing.
The price war will intensify further, raising the barriers of the industry
From the perspective of the popularization of the basic technology of smart wear, the threshold of the industry has become lower and lower. However, as the number of enterprises in the industry increases, market competition will further intensify, and price wars will inevitably be further staged. On the one hand, the popularization of products will be promoted. In terms of raising the barriers to entry for the industry.
Subdivision and diversification of products to meet multi-scenario consumption
The current smart wearable products are still in the product popularization period. The products have obvious characteristics of popularization and serious homogeneity. As a result, quite a few companies rely on price wars to acquire consumers and occupy the market. In the future, smart wearables will be subdivided according to different age groups and different consumption scenarios, and products in subdivided fields such as smart medical care, children's products, elderly products, and sports partners will be derived. In addition, from the unique display of the bracelet, it will become a variety of wearable products. It is foreseeable that smart glasses, smart helmets, smart headbands, smart watches, smart wristbands, smart rings, smart footwear, smart clothing, and smart school bags will fully enter consumer life.
Three steps to sell products, manage users, and build an ecosystem
"The product is only the entrance, and the user is the business model", it is more appropriate to put it in the field of smart wear. Consumers buy tangible products, but consume intangible services. How to make services bring more value and interest to consumers is a question that business operators need to think about. Only by continuously connecting and interacting with users and using data precipitation and user precipitation can we build a user-centric product ecological chain.
Breakthrough in new materials is good for apparel companies
At the 2016 Spring/Summer New York Fashion Week, Intel teamed up with architectural sportswear designer Chromat to launch two "responsive clothing". These two smart clothing can use the human body physiological signals such as heartbeat and body temperature collected by the sensor, and deform the clothing through the integrated shape memory alloy in the clothing, which greatly improves the convenience of the wearer. The breakthrough of smart clothing depends on the two aspects of flexible sensing technology and smart clothing materials. At present, some domestic companies have made breakthroughs in the fields of flexible sensing materials, memory fabric materials, and phase change fabric materials, which will open up the Chinese apparel industry. A brand new development opportunity.
