For some time now, rumors about the possibility of Apple launching a smart ring have been circulating, especially after Samsung ventured into this product category earlier this year. According to Tom Hale, CEO of Oura, one of the pioneering companies in the development of smart rings, Apple is unlikely to follow that path. During his speech at the Web Summit in Lisbon, as reported by CNBC, Hale made clear his perspective on why the Cupertino company does not seem inclined to enter the smart ring market.
Health is becoming increasingly important for Apple
Apple has made the Apple Watch its main health platform. The company has focused on developing features and services that reinforce the role of the watch in our health, and we are increasingly seeing greater evolution in this field. For Apple, considering a smart ring could ultimately mean internal competition with its own flagship product in the health and fitness realm, but has that scared them before?
Tom Hale believes that, for Apple, the added value of a smart ring is not enough to justify its entry into this category. In fact, Apple does not seem interested in creating a device that could take market share away from its watch. In Hale’s own words: “They [Apple] are not convinced that it has value to have a ring and a watch at the same time, and they are not interested in undermining the Apple Watch business.” According to Hale, Apple closely follows the steps of competitors like Samsung and also those of Oura, but still sees the smart ring category as a risky and complex bet.
Smart rings, like the one offered by Oura, are designed with sensors similar to those in the Apple Watch that collect information about our health, physical activity, and even sleep quality. An interesting alternative to smartwatches, they go far beyond these functionalities, which is reflected in both size and weight as well as features.
According to Hale, another factor that might be holding Apple back is its principle of focusing on a few high-quality products instead of opening too many fronts. “Apple is a very focused company. They are saying: ‘We have bet on the watch. We are going to make the watch our platform'”, he commented.
This approach has allowed Apple to maintain a very high standard of quality in all the products it launches, but it has not prevented Apple from venturing into different market categories. If this year we have seen the arrival of spatial computing with the Apple Vision Pro and next year we would see the first piece of Apple’s home automation ecosystem, the company is taking significant steps in the field of health.
According to the latest rumors, the AirPods could make the leap with heart rate sensors and other metrics. As far as we know, this will be Apple’s priority for its headphones from now on. Beyond this, Apple has never been afraid to compete with itself, the launch of the iPhone, an excellent substitute for the great success that was the iPod, is proof of that.
While it doesn’t seem that difficulty is what holds Apple back from launching a smart ring nor the fear of competing with its own products, it is interesting to hear the opinions of one of the pioneering companies in the field. It’s easy to overlook the work invested behind a device that appears so simple. Meanwhile, let’s hope that Apple can surprise us with its own proposal and that we see an Apple Ring in its catalog.
