Prospects grim for Swiss watch industry

A survey of the Swiss watch industry by consultants Deloitte has found wide-ranging and deep pessimism Watch exports, which had risen from CHF9 billion to CHF21 billion over the last 20 years, have been drastically reduced in 2020 The worst hit segment is mass produced, lower cost watches.

As a result, 67% of the 55 executives surveyed had a pessimistic outlook for the Swiss economy as a whole while 85% said the watch industry in particular faced difficult times ahead Another cloud looming over the traditional Swiss watch is the popularity of smartwatches The Apple Watch sold 307 million units last year, dwarfing the 206 million units sold by the entire Swiss watch industry, the report says.

A third of Swiss watch executives think that smartwatches pose a real threat to their business interests Deloitte says 20% of 5,800 consumers they surveyed globally would be happy to buy a second-hand luxury watch. . Source