After releasing several Android wear smartwatches, Motorola has ditched the Google platform.
Motorola has not released any Android Wear recently and will not do so in the near future.
Android Wear
Android Wear smartwatches were initially announced more than two years ago, accompanied by a lot of fanfare. At the time, two smartwatches were released, the LG G Watch along with the Moto 360. The latter came with a rounded LCD display and offered a futuristic design. Motorola continued to release a few such Android Wear smartwatches, but has finally thrown in the towel, so to speak.
Moto 360 Versions
The second gen of Moto 360 was released in the fall of the year 2015 and some months later, it released another Sport version. During the present cycle, Motorola has not made any Android wear smartwatch release and there don’t seem to be any future plans as well. ShakilBarkat, the global products development head of Motorola, states that Motorola does not have any plans of releasing a third generation of the Moto 360.
No Further Investments
According to ShakilBarkat, the company still believes that smartwatches have value, and it is not against offering smartwatches. However, there is not sufficient interest shown in the market by users, so further investment in this product is not warranted. Motorola was one of the major supporters of the Android Wear smartwatches and the company now wants out.
Android Wear Stumbles
Even otherwise, Google’s smartwatch platform has stumbled recently, with delays by several months on the software update of Wear 2.0. The 2.0 update had been scheduled for release during the fall and has been postponed to the early part of 2017. This has been done in order to give the company time to revamp the negative feedback it has been receiving from the beta testers. It is not surprising that Motorola is backing off, as its acquisition by Lenovo is not too smooth, being followed by several layoffs and poor sales.
Apple Struggles
Even Apple is seen struggling with its smartwatches, whereas normally the company is capable of selling any device to its fan base. In fact, the sales of the second gen Apple wearable watch has actually come down. The new second gen watches took about a year and half for materializing and they are similar to the first generation watches, not having advanced much.
Pixel Branded Watches
There are some rumors claiming that Google is in the process of creating an in house smartwatch to release it along with the Wear 2.0. The upcoming watches might be of Pixel brand, similar to the latest Google smartphones. It is possible that the new Android Wear would offer a better build quality and an improved experience, thereby rekindling the interest of fans. However, this alone might not be enough to convince users and customers that a smartwatch is a good investment. All said and done, the future of Android Wear seems to be rather grim, with the backing out of Motorola.