1. It is hard to reason without having a reference to a concrete product. For a start, how would a branded smartwatch and a no-name one compare in terms of: -

1. It is hard to reason without having a reference to a concrete product. For a start, how would a branded smartwatch and a no-name one compare in terms of: - Feature parity (hardware and software). - Build quality (again, hardware, software and materials used in the making). - Overall quality (will it die in 3 days, in 3 months or will last). - Support (branded products are sold through local reseller channels and are subject to the local consumer protection laws – if it dies 1 month later, can it be fixed or replaced?) I did have a quick look at the latest Fossil watch product before chiming in, and their watch seemed like a very sophisticated and polished product. I still have my doubts that there is a $50 functional and quality counterpart to it. 2. Apple has taken up the upper end of the niche for a reason – they have an ecosystem that their watch products weave into seamlessly. Their watch can even be used to unlock a MacBook in the direct proximity of it – it is a bonus feature, unrelated to the watch functionality itself but is possible because of the ecosystem. Non-Apple products would always remain 2nd class citizens on the Apple platform due to having to interoperate with someone else's platform by virtue of being a standalone watch product and not part of their own ecosystem. Even if the Apple ecosystem was entirely unlocked and open to third party watch products, the competing watch products would still always lag behind due to having to constantly playing a catch-up with new platform features.