The days of fishing in your pants or purse every time your smartphone beeps or buzzes will soon be a thing of the past. Here’s a Foolish overview of why wearable technology will transform mobile computing, and which company is best positioned to profit from this new category.
The Increasing Flood of Information to Your Smartphone
Smartphone users are already familiar with the problems of keeping up with push notifications: text and email messages, social media updates, phone calls, stock and sports updates
The situation will only get worse. With the cost of sensors and controllers coming down, more everyday devices and services are being connected to the internet and accessible from your smartphone. The result? Push notifications will increase, and user search will become more frequent.
Wearables tethered to smartphones are seen as a solution to the increased information flow. With a quick glance, wearable users could review, reply, store, or ignore push notifications without fishing around for their smartphones. At the same time, ongoing improvements in voice recognition would allow wearables to become an easy access point for mobile search.
The Wearable Warriors
So what companies are likely to profit from wearables? I’ve taken a look at both Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) based on the following criteria:
Assets: Does the company have the technology to provide a compelling wearable solution?
Materiality: Is the wearable business likely to drive sizable, incremental profits?
Risks: What are the key risks facing successful implementation?
Foolish Bottom Line
Evolving technology in wearable computers may be an under appreciated revenue catalyst in mobile category. Of the mobile OEMs currently in the market, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) appears to be positioned to capture significant incremental revenue if wearable technology is widely adopted. Foolish investors should pay close attention to the success of Apple’s launch of a wearable; it could be a sign of upward movement for the company’s stock.
The article Google and Apple Want You to Keep It in Your Pants originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Bill Shambllin.
Bill Shambllin owns shares of Apple and Google. The Motley Fool recommends Apple and Google. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple, Google, and Microsoft. Bill is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.
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