TAG Heuer Smartwatch: Android Wear, Intel Inside
According to Reuters, Tag Heuer’s parent corporation LVMH has teamed up with Intel to create a digital version of one of its most iconic models: the original black Carrera pictured above. It will reportedly still look like the non-digital version, except it will be able to track geolocation, the distance you’ve walked and your current altitude.
That’s some feature set!
Back in January, TAG Heuer CEO Jean-Claude Biver admitted that Apple Watch poses the largest threat to his market’s sub-$2000 price categories. Seeing as how the ASP of Apple Watch is projected to settle somewhere south of $1000, Biver’s interpretation should still hold true today.
But inexplicably, the guy seems to have changed his mind. Instead, he’s going after Apple Watch Edition. TAG Heuer’s iconic black Carrera (1887) — the rumored model its first smartwatch is to be based on aesthetically — sells at a new MSRP of $5050. Lesser builds start in the high $2000s, and others go all the way up over $10,000. This puts whatever Biver’s got up his sleeve into a price category he was previously unconcerned about Cupertino cannibalizing, and it leaves the lower end stuff — which is the bread and butter of the “mainstream” luxury watch industry — even more vulnerable to the Apple Watch onslaught.
This is excellent news for Apple, as it will leave Sport and stainless untouched by any challengers in the established Swiss market. For fans of the TAG Heuer brand, however, the future’s looking down.
Did I mention this thing runs Android Wear?