The Swatch Group has announced that it is going to develop its own operating system for wearables that will compete with Apple's watchOS and Google's Android Wear.
The company, in collaboration with the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology, will focus on developing wearable devices that are safe and low-power, Swatch CEO Nick Hayek told reporters.
Battery life is one of the biggest weaknesses of smartwatches so far.
“In Switzerland we have a lot of experience in creating things that are smaller, consume much less energy, are independent and more cost-effective and can be classified as small objects,” Hayek said, according to Reuters.
The company will release the operating system through its Tissot brand in late 2018, according to Bloomberg.
Traditional watchmakers have seen their profits plummet when Apple's SmartWatch hit the market.
The Apple Watch now accounts for half of all smartwatch sales, according to researchers at Canalys, and accounted for nearly 80 percent of total smartwatch revenue in Q4 2016.
Of course, traditional companies are trying to catch up. But the smartwatch market is expected to grow relatively slowly, according to Jupiter analyst group, which says that fewer than 60 million smartwatches are expected to be shipped annually by 2021.
