IFA: Samsung insists in watches connected with Gear S3 – ZDNet France

While Apple could finally unveil an evolution of its Apple Watch during his keynote on September 7, Samsung took advantage of the IFA in Berlin to cut the ground from under the feet. The Korean group has indeed unveiled its new shows connected Gear S3, just a year after the previous model

This smartwatch is available in two versions:. Frontier who want sporty and strong, and Classic more urban comes with a leather strap. The finishes seem rather successful. Both models are powered by the Tizen OS.

Samsung highlights a number of sensors (altimeter, barometer …) more important but especially greater autonomy, up to 4 days, thus trying to erase a major black spots these connected objects.

Both models feature a Super AMOLED 1.3 inch (360 x 360), 0.1 inches more than the Gear S2 associated with the Always-On Display functionality ( display information or notifications in standby) and a navigation ring.

the storage rises to 4 GB and we find there the WiFi and / or 4G as configurations. Recall that one of the strengths of the Gear range is its vis-à-vis the smartphone independence.

The Gear S3 will arrive in October from 399 euros. This price level may still ask questions while the market shows connected slow to take off.

Thus, according to the latest figures from IDC for the second quarter, the market has collapsed by 32% in volume to 3.5 million copies. This is a first since the institute extent that market (2013)

Apple Watch remains head of sales (47% market share), but the stock for Apple’s impressive.: -55% by volume to 1.6 million units against 3.6 million a year earlier. It is truly the fall of the Apple Watch which drives the market down because its competitors are progressing but in narrow volumes.

Samsung remains the challenger with 600.000 watches sold in the period, a figure quite low when one knows the aggressive marketing of the south Korean giant to impose its product but its sales rose 51% year on year. Its market share is fixed at 16%. Behind Lenovo (Motorola) and LG share the leftovers with 300,000 units sold, respectively, for a 9 and 8%.

The question is whether this market is already damaged when it expects a second wind. “Since early 2016, consumers expect to buy a watch to have connected new devices,” explains Jitesh Ubrani, IDC analyst said in the statement. Samsung novelty could then convince, despite a slightly higher price.