TAG Heuer plans to release its own smartwatch

Earlier this year Jean-Claude Biver, a high-ranking executive from LVMH, admitted that the launch of Apple Watch could threat Swiss watch brands as many people may prefer smart watches to traditional mechanical watches. Apparently, the watchmakers from LVMH have not been standing still and plan to make their own smartwatches too.

Sometimes next year TAG Heuer, a well-known watch brand that belongs to LVMH, plans to introduce its own smartwatch. The device will be exclusive and will not just copy Apple Watch or other similar gadgets. At the same time, it is likely that the watch will rely on Google’s Android Wear operating system in order to be compatible with smartphones made by other companies.

“We want to launch a smartwatch at TAG Heuer, but it must not copy the Apple Watch,” said Jean-Claude Biver, the head of watch brands at LVMH, in an interview with NZZ am Sonntag, reports Reuters news-agency. “We cannot afford to just follow in somebody else's footsteps.”

TAG Heuer is projected to demonstrate its smartwatch at the Basel watch fair next spring.

TAG Heuer already makes luxurious handsets. One of its mobile phones – TAG Heuer Link – is based on Google Android operating system.

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KitGuru Says: It will be interesting to see which watch brands will follow TAG Heuer with smartwatches. It is pretty clear that the new product category has chances to gain importance in the coming years, but what is unclear is how significantly their popularity will affect sales of luxurious Swiss watches.

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