Asus and Acer have officially confirmed that they’re interested in the growing wearables market and will have such devices of their own in stores at some point later this year, Focus Taiwan reports. While there are no details on what these devices will look like or how they’ll work, Asus has big plans for its device. “We will put our entire design thought into it,” Asus Chairman Jonney Shih said on Tuesday at the company’s year-and party. “There are actually many challenges in this area, and I don’t think products that lack special features will be useful. We’ll try to replace your watch by all means.” Shih added.
The smartwatch, which doesn’t have a commercial name yet, will arrive later this year, and may be demoed as soon as Computex 2014 in June, according to previous statements from the company.
Acer on the other hand, plans to launch its wearable devices in the second half of the year, with the company reportedly working on a “’distinctive’ wearable device” with an option for a necklace-style piece.
Asus and Acer are not the only companies that will offer consumers new smartwatches or wearable devices this year. Various companies have launched and/or will launch new smartwatch models including Samsung, Sony and Pebble to name just a few. Others are also rumored to work on such devices, with Apple expected to have an iWatch of its own in stores at some point in the future. Furthermore, other companies have announced other smart wearable devices at CES 2014, including LG, Sony and Razer.
Focus Taiwan says the wearable device market will grow to $20.6 billion by 2018, on worldwide shipments of 191 million units, citing research from Taiwan’s Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center.
