Lenovo's Moto is taking a break from smartwatches: Report

We’ve known that Lenovo won’t be releasing a Moto smartwatch in the later part of 2016. And, with the launch of Android Wear 2.0, many would be expecting a release of the watch sometime in 2017, but most likely that isn’t happening either.

Shakil Barkat, head of global product development at Moto, told TheVerge that there isn’t ’enough pull in the market to release a new smartwatch out at this time’. However, the company may plan a smartwatch as and when the tech for this space improves. In a nutshell, the company plans to take a break from smartwatches. “Wearables do not have broad enough appeal for us to continue to build on it year after year,” he further told The Verge.

The Moto 360 was among the most popular droid watches, and Lenovo’s these plans could mean a setback for Google. Moreover, Android 2.0 has been already delayed, and Huawei and LG had been clear about staying away from wearables this year. Meanwhile, Samsung has been seen dabbling with its own proprietary software for watches.

In 2015, as soon as the Apple Watch was launched, it dominated the smartwatch market. 12 million units, amounting to two-third of all the shipments belonged to Apple. Pebble was pushed down to the third spot, after Samsung. Fitbit continued to enjoy the top spot in basic watch categories.But, 2016 has been a tricky space when it comes to smartwatches. Initially, Apple Watch 2 was believed to have the potential to revolutionise the watch space with cellular connectivity. But, that clearly didn’t happen.

Soon, an IDC report showed how the smartwatch sales had dipped, and went as low as 50 percent. It was later followed by a Canalys report stating how Smartwatch sales have seen a 60 percent rise in the third quarter with Apple leading the way. We wonder what 2017 has in store for smartwatches.