Swatch smartwatch in 2018 will run on its own OS

Though smartwatches were a hit when it launched, they are no longer the newest and coolest. But that is not to deter one of the largest Swiss brands to develop its own operating system.

Apparently, Swatch is working on its own OS, competing with the likes of Apple and Samsung. Swatch CEO Nick Hayek announced to the media that it is planning to release a product with a custom-built software under its luxury Tissot brand in 2018.

Hayek said his company will work to create an OS that will protect data, be more efficient and conserve battery. The new wearables platform will be developed in partnership with the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology.

“There’s a possibility for wearables to develop as a consumer product, but you have to miniaturize and have an independent operating system,” Hayek told Bloomberg.

Swatch will face an uphill battle with the industry occupied by heavyweights such as Apple and Samsung. Apple has its own WatchOS, while Samsung dropped Android to develop smartwatches running Tizen OS.

A majority of the wearables out there however using Google’s Android Wear OS. Just a month back Google took wraps off the Android Wear 2.0, the biggest update since its launch in 2014. The Wear 2.0 launched with two new flagship watches from LG: the LG Watch Sport and the LG Watch Style. Some of the other well known brands using Android Wear OS include Casio, Huawei, TAG Heuer, Asus, to name a few.

Swatch’s announcement also comes even as a new report forecasts steady growth in smartwatch market. The smartwatch market is set to double over the next four years, reaching 86 million units by 2021, according to global analyst firm CCS Insight.

“The Apple Watch has been the trailblazer for this category. Its success prompted traditional watchmakers to enter the smartwatch market. Fossil, Guess Watches and TAG Heuer were among the first to embrace the opportunity,” noted George Jijiashvili, wearables analyst at CCS Insight.

The new forecasts estimates that 43 million smartwatches will be shipped in 2017.