LAS VEGAS — Garmin, a maker of recreation and fitness wearables, is looking for riches in the niches of the consumer electronics market. That was evident at CES 2024 where the company showed off a wide array of smartwatches targeting everyone from sports enthusiasts to women and kids.
The Olathe, Kansas-based company focuses on style and select functions when it makes smartwatches. That differs from rival Apple, which sells just a few models of its Apple Watch and treats it like a computing platform.
At CES 2024, Garmin promoted its Lily 2 series smartwatches. The new wearable devices are petite and fashionable smartwatches that offer health, wellness and connected features. They get up to five days of battery life in smartwatch mode, the company said in a news release.
New features with the Lily 2 devices include sleep score, dance fitness activities and Garmin Pay contactless payments. They also provide fitness tracking, body energy monitoring, connected GPS and workout apps. The Lily 2 starts at $249.99.
CES 2024: Lots Of Choices In Smartwatches
Garmin displayed smartwatches for kids, runners, swimmers, golfers, divers, adventure seekers and more. The four-day CES 2024 conference ended Friday.
Garmin doesn't believe in a one-type-suits-all approach to smartwatches, Audra Ratliff, associate director of product marketing at Garmin, told Investor's Business Daily.
A decade ago, consumer electronics companies making wearables for women would take the design of a men's watch, shrink it and color it pink. The joke in the industry was "shrink it and pink it," Ratliff said.
Garmin saw women as an untapped customer base for electronics because they hadn't been properly served, she said.
"We've really put an emphasis on making products that are designed with women in mind first," Ratliff said.
Garmin Stock Ranks First In Group
In addition to the Lily 2 smartwatches, Garmin introduced a new heart-rate monitor for women called the HRM-Fit. The device clips directly onto sports bras to accurately capture important training metrics for athletes and fitness buffs. The HRM-Fit sells for $149.99, according to a news release.
Garmin stock ranks first out of 16 stocks in IBD's Consumer Electronics industry group, according to IBD Stock Checkup. GRMN stock has an IBD Composite Rating of 86 out of 99.
On the stock market today, Garmin stock rose 0.5% to close at 123.85.
Garmin stock recently found support at its 50-day moving average line after the broader tech stock sell-off.
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