Intel’s Fashion Accessory MICA To Start Selling In December’14
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) officially launched its MICA (My Intelligent Communication Accessory) smart bracelet this week. The device was first introduced by Intel and the fashion company Opening Ceremony at the Opening Ceremony Spring/Summer 2015 fashion show in September this year. MICA is a feminine fashion accessory, designed by Opening Ceremony and engineered by Intel, with communications capabilities. Priced at $495, the smart bracelet features a 1.6 inch OLED display and delivers texts, e-mails, and Facebook/Google notifications over AT&T’s 3G network. The fashion accessory will be available by early December in the United States and will retail exclusively at Opening Ceremony New York and Los Angeles, select Barneys New York locations, and online at Openingceremony.us and Barneys.com. The device will act as a proof-of-concept for OEMs looking to create similar hardware running on Intel processors.
Intel, which is a leader in PC and server microprocessors, was a late entrant in the mobile computing space and for this reason does not (yet) have a very large presence in the market. The company reported operating loss in excess of $3 billion from its mobile and communication division in the first three quarters of 2014. However, the computing giant is keen to become an early entrant in what is touted to the be next big wave in computing – wearable technology. Juniper Research estimates the wearable computing device shipments will increase from 15 million units in 2013 to 150 million units by 2018. ABI Research forecast the figure to cross 450 million units during the same period. [1]
The wearable device market is still at a nascent stage and is quite competitive with everyone from Qualcomm, Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN), Broadcom (NASDAQ:BRCM) to startups vying to grab a share of this fast growing market. With the launch of MICA, Intel is the latest company to focus on making communication and health sensing wearable devices more fashionable. By making the wearable devices look more like a fashion accessory, Intel feels confident of expanding its footprint in the wearable technology space.
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Earlier this year Intel acquired Basis Science, which specializes in wearable device technologies for health and wellness applications. Intel did not disclose the terms of the deal in its press release, but according to TechCrunch, the company paid approximately $100 million for Basis Science. Basis Science is one of the leaders in health tracking for wearable devices and accounts for around 7% of the market. [2] It manufactures the Basis band, the world’s most advanced health tracker, which helps analyze sleep patterns, motion, heart rate, caloric activity, perspiration and skin temperature. As per Tech Crunch, Intel’s CEO recently announced that Basis Science will release a new version of its device sometime this year. [3]
In August, Intel partnered with the The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research to create the technology and software to better monitor and treat Parkinson’s disease using wearable devices. The company has also partnered with renowned rapper 50 Cent to create fitness-tracking headphones. [4]
We believe that accelerating its entry in wearables augurs well for Intel’s long term growth potential.
Our current price of $34 for Intel is almost in line with the current market price. The company currently derives less than 5% of its revenue from the IoT space, but we forecast the contribution to reach 10% over our review period.
See our complete analysis for Intel
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- Broadcom Targets Wearable Tech Role, TechWeek Europe, August 30, 2013 [↩]
- Basis Goes To Intel For Around $100M, TechCrunch, March 3, 2014 [↩]
- Intel’s CEO Envisions A Future Where Wearables Don’t Look Like Wearables – And It’s Not That Far Away, Tech Crunch, August 30, 2014 [↩]
- Intel Is Covering Its Bases In The Wearables Market With A New Wearable For The Fashion Conscious, Forbes, September 3, 2014 [↩]