The Pebble smartwatch is a success in its own right. It was one of the most funded Kickstarter projects of all time and basically introduced smartwatches into a market where wearables weren’t even that common yet. However it is safe to say that with all the hype surrounding the Apple Watch that wearables from companies like Pebble have taken a backseat in terms of media coverage.
In fact even before the Apple Watch was launched, many had billed it as being the wearable that would change the landscape of wearables, and to a certain extent it is true except that instead of it being in Apple’s favor, it seems that other companies such as Pebble might have actually benefited from all the hype.
In an interview with CNBC, Pebble’s CEO Eric Migicovsky revealed that due to the hype surrounding the Apple Watch that it actually raised awareness of wearables. Presumably because of its price, consumers could have actually started doing more research on alternatives, like the Pebble for instance.
In fact according to Migicovsky, the company actually saw their sales doubled from the previous year, and he was also quoted as saying, “We’ve actually seen no material impact from Apple entering the space on our sales.” This echoes a similar sentiment shared by fitness tracker maker Fitbit who claims that revenue actually increased by 168% year-on-year, as opposed to taking a hit like many had expected with the launch of the Apple Watch.
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