Roffensian wrote:
FEAR wrote:
these are global numbers too remember, the us is still breitlings top market, and the economy is still a mess, omega has a MUCH larger presence and percentage of sales in asia than breitling, and in 2011 the asian economy was BOOMING. the big jump by omega was expected im sure by most industry experts.
Which is why virtually every other Swiss watch company has been producing models designed to appeal to the Asian market over the last few years. Breitling didn't get unlucky because the US economy is bad, they failed to adapt to where market demand was (is).
China is emerging as the biggest pocketbook around...some say this boom will slow but if it does, it won't be for a while. If you want to succeed in a globalized world, you need to design to appeal to Asian markets.
With that said, I think Omega/Rolex aren't quite in the same market as Breitling. Breitling has a following in more 'professional' fields than the other two (hold diving). Many of their products are built around certain functionalities, with the most obvious example being the Emergency...and I hope they continue this trend of working to appeal to that market as it is what attracts me to the brand.
While that is true to some degree, Breitling's claim to fame was in the aviation sector. Rolex made it's mark as a diver's tool watch as well as with a professional Oyster Perpetual Date (and later Datejust) model. Ask John Travolta and he'll confirm (endorsment $ notwithstanding) that Breitling is an aviator's tool watch. That's what is the main issue--the Breitling brand is mostly known to aviators and marketed predominantly to aviators. Yet Breitling offers 10 different watch brand models not including the 6 "Professional" watch brand models. SIXTEEN watch brand models? Ask anyone what first comes to mind about a Breitling watch and you will get 16 different responses. Furthermore, an international entity like Breitling would be doing a tremendous disservice to the company and would-be watch buyers if they were only designing watches that appeal to the Asian markets. That, my friend, is exactly why sales are not where they should be....
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