As smartwatches continue to experiment with mobile shopping, it is being reported some major brands, including Amazon, eBay, and Google Maps, have -- for now -- quietly pulled Apple Watch support from their iOS apps.  While we can certainly see the benefit of quickly glance-able, wrist-based, navigational steps for mobile shopping, these online shopping-related apps for the wrist have NOT been heavily marketed or picked up by consumers, and thus we can definitely understand why they have been yanked from the App Store.

Having said that, such first-generation teething problems for any new tech (like wrist-led shopping or navigation apps) are nothing new. According to our  WDE (Wearables) service, smartwatch sales will rebound in 2017, as far more new models will arrive from not only tech giants, but also traditional wristwatch makers, in the second half of the year.  Google, in a statement, has said they expect Maps to support Apple Watch again in the future, and we predict Amazon and eBay will also return to the platform in coming months.

In order to make second-gen, wrist-based shopping apps take off in 2018, Strategy Analytics advises app developers to capitalize on the unique always-on input / output value proposition of wearable devices in order to offer context-aware notifications, such as a notifying a customer in a retail store when passing a product or department that is running a sales promotion, or offering personalized product recommendations based on location and history.