Everyone is in turmoil trying to see if Samsung's Galaxy Gear smartwatch can be considered a success or a mega-flop. On one side we have reports that only 50,000 of these smartwatches have been sold, on the other hand we have information from Samsung that states they have shipped more than 800,000 Gears in the first two months... who's right after all?
Most likely, the truth will be somewhere between the two. Shipped units don't mean a thing - they might as well be stuck inside a storage warehouse somewhere, or on the shelves, and those that were actually sold might have been returned after its users found out they couldn't do much with it (that has changed with the recent Gear Manager update Samsung made available - but many users probably didn't wait for it.) Some stores said they had nearly 30% return rates for the Galaxy Gear.
The market sure is hyped up for the wearable revolution, but for it to occur one does not need only a "first to market" approach - we need to have device that are actually useful in our daily lives. And Samsung - in my opinion - was to focused on being the first... and forgot to make their Galaxy Gear useful. Now, even though each and every update will certainly make it better, for thousands of buyers their feedback will be "it sucks", and they'll be sure to tell that to their friends, and family, and everyone else.
First impressions count. And as sure as you won't bother trying some clothes a second time after you've tried it once; wearable devices better get their act straight and make sure they amaze us from the very start. Why else do you think Google is taking its time to bring its Google Glass to market?
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