Google: Now the ultimate innovators?

Google announced a few weeks ago via a Google+ post that it has plans to create its very own smartwatch. No concrete details on the wearable device are known as of yet, but the sources across the netscape indicate that it could build on already established partnerships with HTC, Asus, LG and others.

The foray of Google into the wearable device industry raises the interesting fact that despite the assumption made by many that Apple is the most innovative company in the world, Google has in recent times done much to earn that recognition, and its announcement to create a smartwatch is further evidence of this.

The company has skillfully built on software engineering, its business’s core competency, and has been able to generate innovative outputs like its driverless cars and the recently released Google glass. These two projects are a testament to its business environment which harnesses the creative talents of its workers, as opposed to ideas coming from a singular individual as was the case with Apple, if this is fair to say.

Not all Google’s attempts at innovation have been a success though, in fact, these failings could easily be slated as the company’s falling short of developing a monopoly. A product like Google+, its social networking offering could arguably be classified as an over-reach, just as its attempts in buying Motorola to have a foothold in the smartphone industry similarly proved futile.

However, although it couldn’t establish a foothold through the conventional means of creating a smartphone, its inception of the android operating system which is openly licensed to smartphone makers has made it a major player in the industry, as far as operating system goes, with 76% market share. This can be chalked up as an example of innovative problem solving which again marks Google out from the rest of its competition.

Returning to the smartwatch, Google aren’t the first to conceive of the idea of making the wearable device. Sony as a matter of fact are prepping the release of their second watch, while Samsung released its own smartwatch, the Samsung Gear, last year. As Ewan Spense of Forbes argues, the smartwatch industry is still “virgin territory”, despite these entries, which leaves it open to Google’s vision and let’s face it, resources, to dominate the industry, unless ofcourse, Apple has something to say about it.