TAG Heuer Has Smartwatch Plans, But “Must Not Copy the Apple Watch”

Last week after the Apple Watch announcement, people had opinions to share about the new smart watch from Apple.

LVMH’s Jean-Claude Biver, the head of the French luxury group’s Tag Heuer, Zenith and Hublot brands, said the Apple Watch was “too feminine” and said it looked like “it was designed by a student in their first trimester.” Sounds like Biver is talking crazy like how Palm’s CEO did back in 2006.

Now, Reuters reports Biver told a Swiss newspaper Tag Heurer has plans to create its own smartwatch, but it must not copy others in the new category, in particular Apple:

“We want to launch a smartwatch at TAG Heuer, but it must not copy the Apple Watch,” Jean-Claude Biver told Sunday newspaper NZZ am Sonntag.

[…]

“We cannot afford to just follow in somebody else’s footsteps,”

Biver noted the Swiss watch industry would debut its own line of smart watches at the Basel watch fair in spring of 2015. No further details were released.

Swiss watchmakers are following the smart watch category closely to see whether there will be impact on their industry. Earlier, Swatch CEO Nick Hayek proclaimed they were “not nervous” about Apple’s jump into the watch arena.

This July, Apple poached the sales director from Tag Heuer, to assist in the former’s Apple Watch launch. Biver told CNBC at the time heading to Apple for Patrick Pruniaux , would be a “great experience” for him.

The Apple Watch was announced at the company’s iPhone 6 media event last week and will debut in “early 2015”, with the entry model starting at $349 USD.

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In an interview with Charlie Rose, CEO Tim Cook admitted the delay of the Apple Watch launch was calculated, so developers can start creating apps in time for the release in 2015.

 

 

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