This is a commentary.
In a move that is common for vivo but not for the industry- the China-based smartphone maker sent out an official media release to further speculate on the details surrounding the launch of its first smartwatch – vivo WATCH.
The announcement starts by saying that vivo will likely launch its first smartwatch – vivo WATCH by end of this month. After that, vivo said it has registered trademark of “vivo WATCH” with the European Trademark Office (EUIPO), and it has recently passed the national 3C Certification.
The rest of the official media statement are based on rumours from third party, which vivo appears to be spreading it them self and was followed by “….However, the news has yet to be confirmed by vivo.”
According to vivo Malaysia in its official statement, 3rd party sources have revealed the following: “vivo WATCH will be available in the market soon. It then further elaborated that vivo WATCH will carry two model numbers which are WA2056 and WA2052. Both female and male versions smartwatch come with a 42mm and 46mm round dial design and sporting a leather strap, that houses AMOLED coloured display, NFC, heart rate monitor and blood oxygen detection. Moreover, vivo WATCH also supports 5ATM water resistance, calories monitoring function, music player and may have a battery life up to 18 days.”
The press announcement was concluded with the following words: “For more details, please stay tuned to vivo’s official announcement.”
Commentary:
The statement sent out by vivo – Wasn’t this an official announcement?
I am not sure what vivo is trying accomplish here. To me, if a company speculates on its own product, it makes them very unprofessional and most importantly, they are not sure on what they want. Maybe they got too excited?
Professionally and ethically, a company would normally deny and confirm a rumour related to it. I have not seen a company in Malaysia that sends out official media statement to further speculate on its very own product. Perhaps this is a common practice by vivo in China?
By the way, its 2020, isn’t vivo a little too late to launch a smartwatch?
Note: Did you know that Oppo, Vivo and OnePlus are related to a company called BBK Electronics Corporation? Perhaps a speculation on the merger between vivo, Oppo and OnePlus coming soon? Come on vivo, don’t you love to speculate?