Can Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s iWatch Take the $50 Billion Watch Industry by Storm?

Whether the traditional watch makers admit it or not Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s iWatch poses a very palpable threat to the future of the watch industry as it is today. On Fox Business, Steve Bock who is a CEO of one of the classic watchmaker companies, Shinola, expressed his views on the future of the industry.

Surprisingly enough, Bock did not see Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s watch as a threat. He had faith in his product which as he explained served a different purpose than Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s gadget. He identified his product’s edge as timelessness, as if it were a piece of jewellery.

“[…] What our watches stand for is timeless products, all of our products our timeless so Shinola stands for leather goods that are coming out of Detroit that are timeless, the same thing with bikes the same thing with watches to a degree that we stand behind our watches […],” said Bock.

Book had a very optimistic outlook towards the new competitor. He believed that  Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s watch will expand the $50 billion industry instead of just carving out a share for itself. In his view, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s watch will bring the culture of wearing a watch to the population segment that was unreachable before. Then these consumers are going to realise the value that high end luxury watch makers offer, thus expanding the industry’s revenue.

Another analyst on the panel gave an example that even the millenials or the tech savy segment of our society may wear Apple’s watch during the entire day but when they are going on a date they are definitely going to look for something to replace their gadget, something more classy.

It will take a couple of years to find out how the iWatch, which comes out next year will really impact the traditional watch industry. If it is indeed the case as Bock predicts then Swiss watchmakers stand to make a lot of money. Swiss watchmakers’ exports amounted to $23.3 billion in 2013 according to Fox Business.

Disclosure: none