Google Android Wear Magic Minute Project Tries To Bring Relevance To Sluggish Smartwatch Market
There are two things Google has to come to grips with. The first is that smartwatches might not be the next big thing, as recent data shows that consumers are more interested in fitness bands than time pieces. And secondly, those who do buy smartwatches end up selecting an Apple Watch way more often than one running Android Wear. Those are the cold, hard facts for Google, and its latest "Magic Minute" campaign probably isn't going to change things.
The Magic Minute Project is a marketing campaign designed to bring attention to Android Wear. It consists of one-minute clips showing what is possible in a minute, like rapping 300 words or parkouring nonstop for 60 seconds while maintaining a low heart rate.
"What’s possible in a minute? You can fall in love. Launch a rocket ship. Set a rap world record. Today, Android Wear is teaming up with with makers, doers, and dreamers to launch The Magic Minute Project. It’s a collection of one-minute films celebrating what time means to all of us—told one #MagicMinute at a time," Google explains.
Some of the videos are neat, but it seems a stretch to tie any of them into Android Wear specifically. Watching Andrew Huang drop a 300-word rap in 58 seconds is certainly impressive. However, it doesn't inspire an impulse to buy a smartwatch, whether it's Android Wear or an Apple Watch.
That's a real challenge for Google and its Android Wear platform. Market research firm recently noted that smartwatch sales as a whole plunged 51 percent in the third quarter, with total shipments reaching just 2.7 million units. IDC followed that up with another report saying that basic wearables mostly comprised of fitness bands accounted for 85 percent of the wearables market
