Japan’s Sony Mobile Communications announced the launch of its first smartband in Taiwan yesterday, as it seeks to extends its leadership in the niche market of wearable computing devices.
The Sony SmartBand SWR10 is waterproof and incorporates a removable core unit that contains advanced sensor technology that feels the wearer’s movements and sends personal fitness data to their smartphone or tablet.
Sony Mobile began sales of the device exclusively through the Web portal Yahoo-Kimo Inc (雅虎奇摩) at a cost of NT$3,990.
The exclusive listing will last until tomorrow, after which the SmartBand SWR10 will be available through various retail outlets.
The device can be paired with four Sony Xperia phones and is also compatible with Android-based handsets from LG Electronics Co, Samsung Electronics Co and HTC Corp (宏達電).
Jonathan Lin (林志遠), general manager of Sony Mobile’s Taiwan branch, said the company has enjoyed brisk sales in the local wearable device market since it launched its first smartwatch in 2012.
“In the smart wear segment, such as watches, our market share is much higher than that of other communications brands,” Lin told a press conference in Taipei.
“Based on our projections, our market share of smartbands should be also much higher than that of our competitors,” he said, adding that such products will remain a niche market in the short-term until a wearable device ecosystem supported by Google Inc becomes mature.
Last week, Acer Inc (宏碁) unveiled its first wearable device at a press conference in New York.
The Acer Liquid Leap smartband is expected to go on sale in only a few markets in late July or early August, the company said on Tuesday last week.
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