CEO of Swarovski explains plans for wearables in 2016

Swarovski has been going into the "smart" world and although you don't hear about them much in tech, the company are carefully approaching the market. A couple weeks ago, Huawei announced their new partnership with Swarovski to make new designs of their very popular Huawei Watch.

A while back, they did partner up with Misfit to enter the wearable market with the Misfit Swarovski Shine. Unlike Misfit's other wearables, this one had a more jewelry based design. Since then, there have been rumours of a new and updated version of the Misfit Swarovski Shine, which will be solar powered. However, Misfit said that there is no time-frame of when the new Shine will be available.

In a recent interview with Wareable, Robert Buchbauer, CEO of Swarovski, talked about their approach to the market. During the talk, Robert Buchbauer does say that Swarovski will be releasing two new wearables this year. He also says that two new colors of the Misfit Shine will be available during Autumn of 2016. The solar power Shine will be expecting a later launch in 2016, but will be available in time for Christmas. Buchbauer does say they are still in the testing phase of the solar powered Shine but is expected to finish by the end of February, where they'll be able to decide on a release date.

Swarovski does have a relaxed approach to wearables, but they are confident in their approach to the market. When the SVP of Product Marketing, Joan Ng, was discussing the original Shine, she explains the sales for the device was significantly good compared to more traditional lines and it was also a launch with little advertising or awareness, "we just put it in the store, It was a natural performer".