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Sowmya Krishnan

THE status of the global watch industry is not very different from India's. While the upper-end Swiss watches continued to grow in value, Japanese watch-makers in the mid-segment registered losses. Chinese producers at the lower end witnessed volume growth. But a drop in unit realisations resulted in flat revenues. World wide, Swiss watches dominate the premium segment. Around 50 per cent of the value of the world watches industry is estimated to originate from Swiss-made watches. For 2001, the Swiss watch production rose 3.7 per cent despite a 3.6 per cent drop in volume terms. In terms of average prices, Switzerland is still far ahead and gaining ground rapidly. The average price of watches exported by Switzerland rose from 312 francs to 367 francs. The average for other countries is just 63 francs.

Japanese watches registered a decline in both volumes and value. In 2001, total production of Japanese watches, including overseas production, decreased in quantity 4 per cent amounting to 704 million units and also in value by 6 per cent to 202.8 billion yen, in relation to the previous year. In unit terms, analog quartz accounted for 95 per cent of all the watches showing an increase by 2 points, digital quartz for 4 per cent showing a decrease 2 points and mechanical watches for 1 per cent keeping the same level as the comparable figure last year.

In order to pep up demand, manufacturers are focusing on introducing new innovative products with add-on features, which not only tells time but also performs other functions. CASIO has introduced a wrist camera. The wrist camera is a super-compact, lightweight wristwatch-type digital camera that users can wear on their wrist. Besides serving as an ordinary wristwatch, the wrist camera can also be used to shoot images.

While wristwatches have started featuring multiple functions, the same is true with other devices too. Convergence of multiple technologies in other products, such as mobile phones is posing a global threat to watches.

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