Motorola will not release a new Moto 360 model to coincide with the launch of Android Wear 2.0 next year, the company confirmed today.
In a statement issued to The Verge, Shakil Barkat, the head of product development at Motorola, said the company doesn’t “see enough pull in the market to put [a new smartwatch] out at this time,” adding, “Wearables do not have broad enough appeal for us to continue to build on it year after year.”
Barkat did not rule out Motorola ever making a successor to the second generation Moto 360, but it doesn’t seem the company plans to return to the vertical anytime soon. “We believe the wrist still has value and there will be a point where they provide value to consumers more than they do today,” he said.
Motorola is not the only the company to seemingly given up on Android Wear. Shortly after the conclusion of Google’s I/O keynote, multiple Samsung executives told Fast Company the company had no plans to manufacture Android Wear smartwatches in the future. The company later backpedaled from that statement, but it’s safe to say it’s been a down year for Google’s wearables platform after the company delayed Android Wear 2.0 into 2017.
If there’s a bright side to today’s news, it’s that Motorola still plans to update the 2015 Moto 360 to Android Wear 2.0. The 2014 Moto 360, however, won’t get updated.
[source]The Verge[/source]
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