In a recent article, we outlined the results of a study which showed that interest in the Apple Watch was highest in China, followed by the U.S. and then Europe. At the time we chalked it up to the fact that some of the Apple Watch functions, such as Apple Pay and biometric ID, are already commonplace in Europe, and we concluded that interest in the Apple Watch will always be driven by the need for its particular applications.
Well Kieren McCarthy has taken this concept to its logical conclusion in a very provocative piece in The Register. McCarthy argues that the functionality of Apple Watch was designed with the Chinese market in mind, and that Apple is really targeting China to the exclusion of others with the Apple Watch.
This radical idea is centered on the device’s “digital touch” function, where you can simply tap someone else on the wrist, or send them “pictures” that you can draw on the screen.
McCarthy says that the pictorial function has nothing to do with sending friends your picture of a hand-drawn fish, and everything to do with sending Chinese characters to help Chinese speakers communicate with one another. Qwerty-type keyboards have long been a frustration for speakers of many East Asian languages, and for them, the digital touch represents a huge breakthrough.
The feature doesn’t wait until you have created a “picture” before it is sent. It sends the strokes as they are applied from one person’s wrist to another, tracked and relayed in real time. McCarthy notes that “that is how Chinese characters work – it is not the finished picture that relays the information but the individual strokes built on top of one another. Do the strokes in a different order and they mean something completely different.”
It is a compelling argument. McCarthy goes on to suggest that the gold version of the Apple Watch is more evidence that Apple is targeting the gold-hungry Chinese market. Furthermore, launching the product in early 2015 misses the Western Christmas giving season, but is right on target for the Chinese New Year gift-giving day of February 19.
This year China is on pace to pass the U.S. and become the world’s largest economy. It is not so far-fetched that Apple would be targeting that economy with its newest device. If people in other parts of the world want one, that’s just gravy to the Cupertino cowboys.