Categories: MobilityWorkspace

Samsung Claims It Has Sold 800,000 Galaxy Gear Smartwatches

Samsung claims its Galaxy Gear has sold 800,000 units since it launched two months ago, making it the world’s most popular smartwatch.

The company says sales figures are ahead of its expectations and it anticipates increased demand ahead of the Christmas shopping season, despite early reviews panning the device, which has just 90 dedicated applications and acts as an accessory for the Galaxy range of smartphones.

The good sales have encouraged Samsung, which sees the launch of the Galaxy Gear as an opportunity to seize control of the fledgling smartwatch market, establishing a presence ahead of Apple, whose devices Samsung had frequently been accused of copying,

Samsung Galaxy Gear

The Korean manufacturer has collaborated with fashion shows and has dedicated significant resources towards a marketing offensive promoting the smartwatch. Future iterations could even feature a flexible OLED display, similar to the curved screen included in the Samsung Galaxy Round.

For many manufacturers, the smartwatch represents a new market that can compensate for slowing smartphone sales.

Apple is understood to be working on its own smartwatch, usually referred to as the iWatch, and has recruited Burberry CEO Andrea Ahrendts to head up its retail stores, with her experience of the fashion industry a key reason for her hiring. However it is unclear when the iWatch will debut, with the most recent reports suggesting a late 2014 launch.

The Kickstarter-funded Pebble has also been launched, with the project receiving more than 275,000 pre-orders ahead of its release.

Think wearable tech could be the new black? Try our quiz on for size!

Steve McCaskill

Steve McCaskill is editor of TechWeekEurope and ChannelBiz. He joined as a reporter in 2011 and covers all areas of IT, with a particular interest in telecommunications, mobile and networking, along with sports technology.

Recent Posts

UK’s CMA Readies Cloud Sector “Behavioural” Remedies – Report

Targetting AWS, Microsoft? British competition regulator soon to announce “behavioural” remedies for cloud sector

15 hours ago

Former Policy Boss At X Nick Pickles, Joins Sam Altman Venture

Move to Elon Musk rival. Former senior executive at X joins Sam Altman's venture formerly…

17 hours ago

Bitcoin Rises Above $96,000 Amid Trump Optimism

Bitcoin price rises towards $100,000, amid investor optimism of friendlier US regulatory landscape under Donald…

19 hours ago

FTX Co-Founder Gary Wang Spared Prison

Judge Kaplan praises former FTX CTO Gary Wang for his co-operation against Sam Bankman-Fried during…

19 hours ago