Considering the release of the first Apple Watch since 2015, Apple claims the device to be health-focused comprising features like ECG app and fall detection. In the interview held last weekend, Apple’s Jeff Williams, Sumbul Desai, and Kevin Lynch have word on how Apple Watch became the central focus on the health rather than a simple watch.
Apple’s chief operating officer Willian said that Apple didn’t necessarily have a “major health initiative” planned, but that it was an area in which the company quickly realized it could expand:
“It was very organic. Most people think we had this major health initiative, well, we had some notions in the beginning but no idea where it would lead. And honestly, it’s a situation where we started pulling on threads and the more we pulled, the more we realised there’s such a huge opportunity for us to impact people with the information that’s on their wrist.”
For the time being, Willians and Desai Apple’s vice president of health both highlight that health is only the aspect that Apple Watch focuses on. They explained the Apple Watch as:
Williams: ”Health is such an important dimension. But it’s just one dimension of the Watch. It does so much more, from telling the time to sending messages or making calls and so on. If you tried to sell a heart rate monitor to alert you to problems, you know, 12 people would buy it. So, the people who are wearing it, we get the chance to in some ways ambush them with information about their health, which is what’s allowed us to have such a big impact.”
Desai: “That’s really important. Because I think part of the challenge with health is people don’t want to think about their health all the time but here it’s just woven into the overall experience.”
Apple Watch is not merely the smartwatch showing the time, but also a health-tracking device equipped with the health hardware and software said Apple. Willian added that the Company wants to focus on where it can make the biggest impact. “We’re going to keep pulling on threads and see where this journey takes us,” said Willian.
