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Takealot unveils Google Glass offering

Tyson Ngubeni
By Tyson Ngubeni
Johannesburg, 15 Aug 2014
Google says its Explorer programme for Google Glass is focused on the US and UK.
Google says its Explorer programme for Google Glass is focused on the US and UK.

Online retailer Takealot has announced that South African consumers can order Google Glass Explorer Edition for R26 999, in a move that has had no involvement from the technology giant's local operations.

A spokesperson for Google SA notes the Google Glass Explorer programme is currently focused on the US and UK, with "no plans to expand to other countries at this time".

Takealot's co-CEO Kim Reid says the company becomes "the first e-commerce player in South Africa to stock one of the hottest gadgets on sale in the wearable technology market globally".

The company acknowledges its high asking price will exclude a lot of consumers, although co-CEO Willem Van Biljon notes it expects to sell to a "highly engaged niche of technologists who will jump at the opportunity to be the first in the market to own Google Glass".

It is not yet clear whether the retailer is working with Google's US operations to get its stock and the company had yet to respond to ITWeb's queries at the time of publication.

The Google Glass Explorer programme, which was announced in April, aimed to make a limited amount of devices available to the public and the price was set at $1 500 (R15 800).

Growing influence

The International Data Corporation notes the global wearable computing market is expanding beyond early adopter status, with more functional and stylish devices emerging.

UPDATE: Takealot sourcing from US

Since publication, Takealot has confirmed it is working with a US-based supplier to bring Google Glass to local consumers. Declan Hollywood, head of marketing at the retailer, says the supplier "works directly with Google's US operations". He adds that Takealot has a "conservative stock holding which we can replenish in 10 days".
"If we find there is a strong uptake among the early adopter community who we are targeting, then we intend to service that community by increasing our stock holding."

The research firm predicts shipment volumes will exceed 19 million units in 2014 - more than tripling last year's sales. From there, the global market will swell to 111.9 million units in 2018, resulting in a CAGR of 78.4%.

Meanwhile, Gartner analysts say mobility will continue to have a strong impact on the world's information infrastructure, with around 50% of application interactions being driven by mobile devices by 2017.

Gartner research director Roxane Edjlali notes: "IT leaders should ensure they have infrastructure in place that takes into account data collected, not only via mobile apps, but also from apps running on wearable devices."

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