Apple Watch: An App Developer’s Perspective

NextBigWhat asked our Pradeep Kumar, AVP – Delivery (Consumer Mobility) to share his thoughts regarding the Apple Watch from a developer’s perspective and asked questions on these broad topics: (a) Will people see value in the Apple Watch? (b) Why did Apple retain the hardware and functionality across all the variants? (c) Will we see apps specifically built for high-end variants of the Apple Watch?.

Pradeep expanded on these and related topics in an article. Excerpts:

Value For Money Is Not About A Cheap Price Tag

‘Value for money’ is a term that is common in marketing circles and is usually used to connote a product, which is priced inexpensively, but with some great many features. In my view, it is incorrect to assume that a premium-priced product is ‘poor value’ because of its price tag and vice versa. It all depends on the market segment and target audience a brand is catering to. I am sure a Mercedes Benz owner sees great value for the price he/she has paid for the car. Also every product category has tiers and there is a market for every kind of offering. Take hotels for example – there are luxury hotels, mid-priced hotels, business hotels, lodges and so on – each catering to a different need.

Apple has always focused on the premium end of any product category they have entered into and cater to an audience who do not mind paying extra for a product or service. What they get in return is a product of great quality, design and a premium experience across touch points. I think Apple Watch is consistent with that product philosophy. Apple Watch is another step to lock in customers to the Apple experience across devices – as it works only with the latest generation iPhones.

Image source: Apple

As app developers, we are conscious of the fact that any app experience has to match the sleekness of the Apple brand and has to offer a delightful customer experience. A shoddily designed app (and I don’t mean just the looks) runs contra to the premium, smooth experience of the Apple brand. That’s what we expect of premium brand’s right – everything from the website to packaging to the customer service call has to be of ‘one voice’.