Maybe Swatch should have partnered with Apple on the Apple Watch (which I mistakenly reported last summer) after all. The Swiss watch giant might have been able to help Apple with the problem of the Watch’s short 18-hour battery life.
Swatch CEO Nick Hayek told investors Wednesday that his company is developing smartwatch batteries that will last six months. He said Swatch plans to put its super-batteries in a line of new smartwatches that will show up sometime in 2016, according to a report from Reuters.
“Whoever brings a battery for a smartwatch to the market that you don’t need to charge for six months has a competitive advantage,” Hayek said. “We’re working intensively on this problem with our research group Belenos and battery producer Renata. Next year we will come to the market with a revolutionary battery, not only for watches but also for automobiles.”
Hayek also told Swiss weekly Handelszeitung the new battery could also be used in cars.
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Hayek for a long time downplayed the importance of smartwatches in the wider world of wristwatches, but has changed his tune in the past year. Swatch companies are now creating smartwatches of their own, and component makers under the Swatch umbrella are creating things like touchscreens and batteries for smartwatches.
Still, Swatch and other Swiss watchmakers are miles behind Apple in the art and science of designing a smartwatch from the ground up.
