As I see it, Apple Watch’s contribution to the global electronics industry is the teachable moment it has offered on how to define a brand new product category.

I’m not saying that Apple Watch has nailed the smartwatch. Many consumers are still weighing its stylish design and clever interface against its one-day battery life and expensive price tag.

Compared to the cost and ingenuity needed to design the new version of a pre-determined product category, defining a whole new category from scratch is, obviously, much harder.

But Apple did it once with the smartphone, when iPhone pretty much established a standard that everyone else now mimics. The question is, can Apple do it again?

Traveling in China last month, I found many people – chip designers, system OEMs and industry analysts – in Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing furiously debating over their own definitions of the smartwatch.

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