Intel's MICA smart bracelet with built in GPS and sapphire touchscreen will be available in December with 2 year AT&T contract for $495
Intel Reveals Details of MICA Smart Bracelet … Intel CEO Brian Krzanich visited New York's Fashion Week festivities in September to drum up interest in MICA …
Context & Ripple Effects
Intel's wearable push has been building all year: the chipmaker bought health-tracking wristband maker Basis for around $100M in March, then unveiled MICA at September's Fashion Week reveal as a fashion-first smart bracelet with semi-precious stones and a 3G radio priced under $1,000. With this announcement, the vague 'end of year' window becomes concrete — December availability, $495 on a two-year AT&T contract — putting Intel in direct cellular-wearable competition with the Timex Ironman One GPS+, which also leans on AT&T connectivity and launched this fall at $399.
First-order effects
- Intel moves from concept to shelf: MICA ships in December at $495 with a two-year AT&T commitment, making it one of the first standalone-cellular wearables consumers can actually buy rather than preview.
- AT&T gains a second high-profile connected wearable for holiday 2014 alongside the Timex Ironman One GPS+, deepening its carrier-attachment strategy beyond phones.
Second-order effects
- The sub-$500-with-contract pricing forces rivals like Samsung, Sony, and Qualcomm-backed watchmakers to decide whether to add cellular radios or concede the untethered-wearable niche to Intel and AT&T.
- Intel's fashion-partnership playbook — Krzanich courting New York Fashion Week, semi-precious stones, sapphire glass — pressures other tech vendors to treat jewelry brands and designers as distribution channels, not afterthoughts.
Third-order effects
- If carrier-subsidized wearables catch on, connected devices could follow smartphones onto two-year contracts, shifting wearables from gadget purchases to subscription lines — a model whose economics remain unproven at luxury price points.
- Intel's broader bet — Basis for health data, Curie later targeting under-$10 modules, MICA for the premium end — signals a structural attempt by PC-era chipmakers to own silicon inside clothing and accessories as traditional computing markets mature; whether that portfolio coheres is still an open question.
The trend: Wearables are splitting into two tracks — cheap embedded silicon for everything and premium, carrier-connected fashion devices — as legacy chipmakers like Intel buy and build their way into what comes after the PC.