The power of marketing is strong with Samsung.
Even though the company's Galaxy Gear smartwatch received bad reviews from a number of sources, and is widely received as being a rushed attempt at beating Apple to the smartwatch market, Samsung still managed to sell 800,000 units in the last two months at $299 a pop. Overall, the Gear has been labeled as sluggish and incomplete: many of its features look good on paper, but the execution of them is where it stumbles. Battery life is a big issue, as Samsung reports that the Gear can hold about a day of charge, depending on usage. (We're used to watches holding charges far longer than that.) Despite the bad reviews, Samsung came with ads that threw in childhood nostalgia across the board, with commercials that featured Star Trek characters to Power Rangers. Even the company was surprised by how well the Gear has sold. "It's the most sold wearable watch available in the marketplace," Samsung said in a statement. "We plan to expand its availability by expanding mobile devices that work with Gear."
The Gear will likely surpass a million sold by the holidays, so one bright spot is that the company will fix at least one of its many problems with their smartwatch before then.
[via Reuters]
