by Anura Guruge
on December 8, 2021
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In terms of new smartwatches 2021 was, indeed, a quiet year for ‘Garmin‘. The only watch of note was the ‘Venu 2‘ (which I have worn since June) — but, to be fair, the Venu 2 is quite the watch & quite a big leap forward for Garmin.
I have speculated that it is possible that last year’s crippling ransomware attack might have delayed the development of new watches. Plus, there is the chip shortage.
As 2021 rapidly draws to an end it becomes hard to ignore Garmin’s silence when it comes to new watches. I could be wrong, but I think they are as of now, too late to offer any new watch for Christmas 2021. Yes, there is a talk of a new ‘Venu 2 Pro‘ — but if it only just adds voice support it won’t be much of a winner.
In 2022 there is to finally be a ‘Google’ ‘Wear OS 3’ based smartwatch. That will be major competition to the likes of the Venu 2 — but not for the high-end sport watches like the Fenix.
This switching of exchanges, after 21 years on the NASDAQ, is amusing. It is, by & large, symbolic — a status symbol. By now being on the NYSE, Garmin can claim to be a ‘Big, Old Boy’ — a large, well established company, with solid financials accepted by ‘Wall Street’ as a proven ‘institution’. So, Garmin joins the likes of ‘Ford’, ‘GM’, ‘GE’, ‘Walmart’, ‘ATT’, ‘IBM’ et. al. on the NYSE. But, the likes of ‘Amazon’ & ‘Apple’ still remain at the NASDAQ. So, the move to the NYSE is not as meaningful & prestigious as it once used to decades ago.
So, that alas, is the only exciting news re. Garmin at present.
