![\"Swatch](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/6693.png\")
Swatch is known for its bright, youthful watches – Swatch<\/p>\n
Swatch\u2019s response? Tap into the \u201880s\u00a0zeitgeist with colourful, low-priced designs\u2014funky, artistic, eclectic and made for collectors\u00a0along with\u00a0a whole new demographic that saw them as fashion, not function.<\/p>\n
Swatch\u00a0used its skyrocketing revenue to support its more staid, traditional brands while acquiring new ones. But fast forward to today, and the market\u2019s changed: phones and smartwatches have undercut low-cost watches, leaving luxury as the main engine for growth. And a new set of problems, from low sales in China to Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s tariffs, have made matters even worse.<\/p>\n The luxury spending slowdown in China has hurt all brands, but Swatch got hit more than most, given that\u00a027% of its 2024 sales were attributable to the Asian nation. While the company said last month that sales data now show a possible turnaround, any recovery in China is expected to be slow.\u00a0Meanwhile, Trump\u2019s radical imposition of a 39% tariff on imports from Switzerland puts high-end\u00a0watch\u00a0brands in a corner, since they can\u2019t raise prices much more in the current environment.<\/p>\n Simultaneously, investors have been calling out Swatch, urging it to capitalise on the\u00a0still-lucrative high-end segment. Steven Wood, founder and chief investment officer of New York-based GreenWood Investors, even mounted a campaign to win a seat on Swatch\u2019s board. He was defeated, but his intervention may\u00a0underline\u00a0the frustration among investors worried about the company\u2019s\u00a0future. The Hayek family, which controls more than 40% of Swatch voting rights, has pushed back by saying it shouldn\u2019t just be making watches for the wealthy.<\/p>\n