Titan has inked a deal with HP to produce a collection of smartwatches which will be launched in India and select international markets soon. The new collaboration will involve the sharing of materials, design and custom-made technology.
In a statement, Titan said it is looking to release the collection by the end of the year. As per PTI, the company’s CEO S Ravi Kant said that the company aims to create a new category of smartwatches which are both fashionable and technologically advanced. The brand hasn’t revealed any details concerning the features the new product will come with.
HP Inc General Manager of Wearables and Smart Platforms Sridhar Solur believes that the smart accessories currently available in the market compel customers to sacrifice style in favor of functionality and features. He claims the new gadget will be the kind of elegant watch consumers want to carry and will simultaneously be able to help them remain connected.
Titan is probably looking to diversify its target audience with this new venture. The decades-old watch maker has been facing competition from newer entries in the watch market which offer people more features than simply telling the time. The connected wearables market is growing at rapid pace in India, with more and more companies looking to sell its wares here.
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Handset manufacturers dominate the market for the most part, with traditional watch producers having to step up their game as a result. For instance, Fossil recently agreed to acquire Misfit for $260 million. The move should help both compete with bigger players like Apple, which has shipped 7 million units of its Watch in the 6 months since it’s been launched.
Titan is likely trying to move in a similar direction with HP, as it’s currently in the process of becoming a more youth-friendly digital brand.