‘You can’t provide the same quality with a $20 smartwatch and compare with us’: Garmin exec on building a market for adventure smartwatches in India

Juha Villanen, the Head of B2B & Partnerships for EMEA Emerging Markets and India astatine Garmin. (Image credit: Garmin)

The Indian Express’s Anuj Bhatia exclusively spoke to Juha Villanen, the Head of B2B and Partnerships for EMEA Emerging Markets and India astatine Garmin, who is based successful Munich, Germany, astir however the institution is differentiating its wearables from mass-market smartwatches and wherefore consumers are consenting to wage a premium terms for a Garmin watch.

Here are the edited excerpts from the interrogation with Villanen:

Q: How large is the marketplace for wearables aimed astatine athletes, runners, and adventurers successful India compared to much mature and developed markets similar the US and Europe?

Villanen: India is simply a heterogeneous marketplace that’s precise antithetic from immoderate different markets we run in, due to the fact that different markets wherever we are contiguous person been overmuch much homogeneous successful presumption of colonisation and purchasing power. India is unsocial successful the consciousness that it has high-tech centers with radical who person purchasing powerfulness and an involvement successful sports and fitness. North America and Europe person been our biggest markets. I americium rather definite that a bulk of these athletes successful India are wearing a Garmin watch, but this is inactive lone a tiny conception for us. That’s wherefore we person identified the imaginable and are presently investing not lone successful moving but besides successful different segments, mostly successful the wellness and manner segments of the wearable business.

Garmin started restructuring and revamping their Indian operations astir a twelvemonth ago. (Image credit: Garmin)

Q: Given that Garmin aims its wearables astatine triathletes, region runners, and enthusiasts, and considering that your watches travel astatine a higher cost, does it airs a situation to presumption them for Indian consumers? Or is it a story that Indian consumers similar cheaper variants of your high-end escapade smartwatches?

Villanen: We don’t person a antithetic pricing strategy for India compared to immoderate different market. We run astatine the higher extremity of the standard here, but it is up to america to marque it wide to consumers that, for instance, if you see artillery beingness oregon sensor accuracy, a $20 smartwatch cannot comparison to ours. Our smartwatches supply close sensor information and cardinal features that existent professionals need, with artillery beingness ranging from 2 weeks to up to 90 days. We request to pass these differences to Indian users, which is besides the ground for our investment. This helps marque the pricing much acceptable successful that sense. That being said, we person the broadest portfolio of wearable devices connected the market, ranging from $100 to $3,500. We are ever moving connected making devices much affordable successful definite segments and volition beryllium communicating successful the aboriginal that you cannot supply the aforesaid prime with a $20 smartwatch arsenic you tin with our devices.

Let maine archer you that successful a state similar Kazakhstan, we bash person devices similar the Garmin Marq bid that outgo betwixt $2,500 and $3,500, and past we person the Fenix bid priced from $1,000 to $1,200. In each of these countries, including India, we person a important basal of customers who tin spend these products. However, globally, our lineup of watches priced betwixt $350 and $450 remains popular. Surprisingly, I wouldn’t accidental that the cheapest watches are the astir fashionable successful India wherever consumers successful municipality centers, well-educated, fittingness and sports-oriented individuals—can spend our wellness lineup, moving watches, and adjacent the higher-end outdoor watches.

Q: Over the years, galore brands person tried to merchantability expensive, rugged, fitness-oriented smartwatches, but nary succeeded until Apple entered the representation with the Apple Watch Ultra. Has Apple eaten into the marketplace stock of the smartwatch conception dominated by Garmin, which has pocketed billions successful income from endurance sports watches?

Villanen: Apple is simply a precise ample competitor, and the Apple Watch Ultra is trying to people our terms points successful definite merchandise families, but I’m not excessively disquieted astir that circumstantial conception of our products. They connection an ecosystem of assorted features, but they don’t absorption connected circumstantial sports successful the aforesaid mode we do. Our strategy is to cater to niche markets and pass the benefits to consumers. For instance, we connection a moving ticker with a 90-day artillery beingness and star charging capabilities.

I person not seen immoderate different akin merchandise connected the marketplace that tin execute that without predominant charging. These are the elements connected which we focus. We person features specifically designed for runners successful our watches. We make the hardware and features with a wide intent successful mind. Unlike immoderate different smartwatch companies that whitethorn person a azygous plan and trust connected bundle and apps, we make our hardware for circumstantial functions. If you speech to runners and athletes, they worth the product’s reliability and features, which is wherefore they are consenting to wage for it. We not lone see show but besides absorption connected biometric sensors and wellness information applicable to enhancing diversion performance.

Garmin to absorption connected improving the idiosyncratic interface and bundle acquisition of their smartwatches. (Image credit: Garmin)

Q: A diagnostic similar Garmin Pay allows consumers to wage for items astatine prime stores utilizing a Garmin smartwatch, but it has yet to beryllium rolled retired successful India, a digitally savvy state wherever cashless payments are connected the rise. Can we expect the rollout of Garmin Pay successful India anytime soon?

Villanen: We are moving with our partners connected this. The outgo ecosystem is rather complicated. Garmin Pay is simply a precise fashionable diagnostic successful our emerging markets, and I genuinely anticipation that, unneurotic with our outgo ecosystem partners, we tin bring Garmin Pay to India arsenic soon arsenic possible.

Q: How does Garmin determine connected the features that volition spell onto a caller smartwatch model? Do you look astatine the data, scope retired to consumers, oregon bash a marketplace search?

Villanen: In designing moving features, for example, we make hardware for circumstantial purposes and people groups. We analyse the information we cod from our users, who are precise loyal to Garmin. Their feedback is valuable, arsenic they archer america what they need. We past analyse this feedback, and since we are an engineering company, we excel astatine this process. Ultimately, we guarantee that our developments adhd worth for our users wrong that circumstantial people group. We continuously amended the devices, and the improvement of caller technologies happens each the time, alongside advancements successful sensor technology, bringing caller opportunities for america and our users, particularly successful running. Some users are precise circumstantial astir what they request and what benignant of analytics they require. They pass this to us, and we instrumentality that into relationship erstwhile making improvements. Our extremity is to guarantee that our devices enactment successful a highly reliable manner.

Q: Now that ecosystem players similar Apple, Samsung, and Google person entered the fitness-enthusiast smartwatch space, the products they connection connected the marketplace diagnostic a sleek idiosyncratic interface and improved bundle integration. How does Garmin program to heighten the UI connected your smartwatches?

Villanen: We vie with everyone, not conscionable Apple and Samsung. We look contention successful each our niches, but we person antithetic kinds of comparisons. Coming backmost to your question, I would accidental we perpetually strive to amended the Garmin Connect mobile app, which serves arsenic the idiosyncratic interface and bundle broadside of our products. We purpose to contiguous health, fitness, and sports elements successful a much understandable mode portion adding wide smartwatch features. Our superior absorption is connected wellness and wellness fittingness first, followed by different features. In the past 18 months, determination has been a continuous effort to marque it easier for users to navigate the interface. If you look astatine the watches now, you’ll spot AMOLED displays and touchscreens, on with our astir patented five-button navigation. The idiosyncratic interface has go overmuch clearer, making it easier to find the features you’re looking for. Even though the basal look of the idiosyncratic interface is similar, it’s ever casual to instrumentality to a Garmin device. I spot important improvements successful usability, but it’s an ongoing improvement process.

Q: Garmin caters to the escapade smartwatch conception and has built a beardown concern successful this area. So far, Garmin has done truly good for itself successful this segment, but don’t you deliberation that, fixed the introduction of caller players, determination is besides a request to absorption connected usability to scope caller consumers beyond the accepted people group?

Villanen: It’s a large absorption for Garmin successful general, but successful India, we request to marque peculiar efforts to pass that each the features we connection and our accent connected health, fitness, and sports are best-in-class successful the market. This is enactment we indispensable bash constantly, particularly successful India. That being said, post-pandemic, we person focused connected our wellness and fittingness offerings successful summation to our traditionally beardown outdoor show watches. We are not yet good known successful that abstraction successful India, and our strongest marketplace is among athletes. However, we are actively moving to scope retired to the urban, well-educated, fitness-oriented user basal successful India.

Q: How large is the absorption connected wellness for Garmin now, and however are you moving to present caller health-related features connected your smartwatches? Are you intimately monitoring competitors, oregon bash you behaviour your ain interior studies to place and instrumentality those features?

Villanen: Health has been a large absorption for Garmin. We adjacent person a concern vertical called Garmin Health that specifically works successful this area. Additionally, we acquired Firstbeat Analytics, a Finnish institution that specialises successful physiological analytics and algorithms. We besides person an unfastened ecosystem, which means we supply APIs and SDKs, exertion interfaces, and bundle improvement tools to alteration nonrecreational healthcare organizations and objective probe organizations to pat into the wearable information from Garmin devices and utilize it wrong their respective fields. This includes not conscionable the information but besides the connected ecosystem indispensable for wearable wellness exertion successful the future. In India, we are moving intimately with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS Delhi), which uses our wearables to behaviour aesculapian studies. They trust connected the sensor accuracy and features of Garmin watches.

Q: How are consumers responding to the wellness features connected Garmin watches, particularly during and aft the pandemic? Is determination immoderate diagnostic that you deliberation resonates much with users?

Villanen: Our watches way bosom complaint and bosom complaint variability, allowing america to measurement a metric called the accent index. This diagnostic helps place erstwhile your assemblage is nether stress, whether from unwellness oregon different factors. It became peculiarly fashionable during and aft the pandemic, arsenic radical relied connected bosom rate, bosom complaint variability, and the accent scale to measure their well-being—wondering, “Am I okay? How americium I doing? Should I remainder oregon cheque if I’m getting ill?” These metrics person been wide used. Post-pandemic, we besides introduced a diagnostic called Body Battery. It combines assorted metrics, including sleep, bosom rate, stress, and bosom complaint variability, to supply a assemblage vigor oregon “body battery” worth for the day. This diagnostic allows users to show their wide well-being and recognize if their values are successful a steadfast scope astatine immoderate fixed time.

Q: What kinds of investments are you looking to marque successful bid to amended marque consciousness successful a marketplace similar India?

Villanen: We precocious began to reorganise and revamp our operations successful India. We are not lone gathering a wide strategy to found retail channels successful the state but are besides actively creating strategical partnerships wrong the space. We are a precise antithetic company. As we grow, we travel a purpose-oriented way done circumstantial niches, targeting our efforts precise precisely. Therefore, our marketplace introduction and vulnerability are chiseled from those of our competitors.