Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
TAG Heuer Announces Smartwatch Plans as Threat From Apple Watch Looms
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Hate the way fanboys keep trotting out this tired meme that the Apple watch is somehow going to challenge Swiss watches. They are not even remotely in the same market. Nobody is going to hand down their obsolete 1st gen Apple watch to their grandkids, even if it is still somehow miraculously still working by then.
If high end watch makers are going to build Android Wear based smart watches, these will be the best android watches there are, right?
Aren't Samsung, Motorola etc basically screwed?
Apple might be able to compete, as they can use the hardware/software integration to their advantage.
Aren't Samsung, Motorola etc basically screwed?
Apple might be able to compete, as they can use the hardware/software integration to their advantage.
...this is Apple we are talking about here. The company that wouldn't even let you upgrade your RAM or hard drive. Let's be realistic. Apple isn't going to open this up for upgrades. Apple is the definition of a closed system.
I can buy a Hamilton Khaki King Automatic today, and then give that very same watch to my grandson in 50 years. This can't be said for an Apple Watch. Not even close.
This is never going to happen, just like you'll never see itunes on Android. Apple wants you buying their hardware, period. If anything they'll try to make Watch as compelling and desirable as possible so people switch from Android to iPhone because of it. And no doubt they're working on making Watch more independent so it isn't necessary to be joined at the hip with iPhone.
I'm expecting this also. And while the luxury part might indeed by timeless, the "smart" part of it certainly won't be.
No, I expect watchmakers to make real watches, not heavy software gadgets.
The consumer electronics companies can still make the latter.
The Swiss could offer expensive, but thin and round smart watches, not as smart as the Apple design but good enough for many. The power would come from a traditional self-winding perpetual mechanism that powers a generator. No battery. They could offer stem winders too.
There are some extremely thin mechanical watches out there, despite having a million gears and things.
Maybe the smart part could be designed to be swapped out for newer ones, keeping the expensive case and winder.
There are some extremely thin mechanical watches out there, despite having a million gears and things.
Maybe the smart part could be designed to be swapped out for newer ones, keeping the expensive case and winder.
Last edited:
What looks like a phone to most people is very different from what looked like a phone to people 10 or 20 years ago. The same thing could very well happen to wrist watches, and much faster, once someone (not necessarily the 1st gen iWatch) figures it out.
Tag, Rolex and Breitling may well find that their best-selling models have become that squeezed mid-end. Only their top models (and much higher end brands) will escape that fate.
I'll bet ya a coke you're wrong. Let's say in 4 years we look back at this and see who was right.
I doubt Apple's watch' will dominate over high quality fashion watches. I'll probably have one of those too, but if I'm attending a high profile public event, I'll just wear my Rolex.
While I don't mind theWatch, I think the biggest flaws are the lack of waterproof and the need to have an Iphone paired to it. Once Apple are able to overcome these restrictions I could potentially think in getting one but I have hard time ditching my Omega Seamaster.
Completely agree with the flaws. I'm not interested in the Apple Watch if I need an iPhone to pair it with and the lack of water resistance is off putting.
Exactly. And if we assume they're using Android Wear for the software then I would think Samsung, LG, Lenovo, Asus and HTC are more screwed than Apple.
No because they are totally different markets.
It's quite possible for a high end mechanical watch maker to offer top end models with some overlay screen built into the glass so people can still buy the makes and models they love, but have the benefit of some electronic notifications, without bringing themselves down to having to buy an Apple product aimed at the general mass public that will be seen on the wrists of millions of normal working people.
Totally different markets.
The safe assumption is that they will not be using Android Wear but that these will be minimalistic efficient designs, as the Swiss microsystems industry is used to develop.
In your personal opinion, how much does a "smartwatch" like the Apple Watch have in common with a luxury watch like an average TAG? How much conventional watch making is required to design a "smartwatch"?
As for Apple locking the Appe Watch to the iPhone/the Apple Ecosystem - I think they can easily afford to cater the iPhone crowd only. 90% Android sounds great, but how many of those would be interested in an Apple product as well? And the amount of iPhone 6 sales proves that even those lousy 10% Apple is a huge customer base.
Indeed, long term, this will all work itself out, others will try, some things will flourish, some things will fail, only perhaps in 10 years time will we be able to look back and see the long term successes.
Let's just enjoy the ride
What's short sighted is to assume that the PRIMARY goal of buying this type of device is "fashion" rather than functionality.
If the choice is between crappy functionality (that displays how wealthy you are) and great functionality, what will happen is that wealthy people will buy the functional (Apple) device and find some other way to show the world how superior they are.
Three obvious immediate extensions are
- crazy expensive bands for a standard Apple watch
- Vertu style bedazzling your Apple watch with diamonds and emeralds
- wearing the "I'm rich" totem on your other wrist. This could be a second watch, but that looks douchey and stupid. It could be a bangle, but that doesn't look manly and tough. The solution, I think, is a "watch-like object" that's mechanical and shows something moving, but not traditional time. A digital orrery is an example, but is either too slow (by far!) or kinda strange. A mechanical representation of something else which updates satisfyingly often (maybe room temperature and pressure, like a portable weather station on the wrist) might work well.
If I were a luxury watch company, this is the direction I'd pursue. There is no way you are going to win anything competing against Apple and the Android world for the smartwatch business --- you just have absolutely no skills relevant to the problem. Accept that the actual job you are hired for is to show to the world (in a way that your buyers like to imagine is subtle and tasteful) how rich your buyers are, and find an alternative way of doing that job.
We shall see.
Never is a long long time, and with Android Smart phones increasing in numbers, and quality, and higher spec ones at better and better prices year on year, Apple will hit a barrier in time of just how many iPhone users want the Watch.
We shall just have to see if you are right and they "Never" wish to sell any watches to any other markets.
I think they will in time, as you are a company who wants to make money so why would you ever limit your market, remember just how small Apple's share of the smartphone market is in many countries.
Of course this sort of dreaming is possible The question is --- do they have the skills to pull if off.
An analogy is with cars. Mercedes makes nice cars, but their in-auto electronics sucks. They may be better than what some other companies provide, but they're lousy compared to what I get from my phone.
This didn't matter when in-car electronics was a small part of the auto experience, but it's becoming more and more of an issue, to the extent that if I were in the market for buying a new mid-range auto, I'd probably buy Tesla, not because of the electric motor but simply because they seem to "get it" regarding in-car electronics more than any other company.
Point is
(a) Mercedes' mechanical skills don't translate to electronics
(b) If I'm paying $50,000 for a car (or a watch) I damn well expect the thing to be fscking perfect. I do NOT expect (ala Mercedes) that the CD player is riddled with bugs, or the GPS is slower than an iPhone1; AND that the company has no conception of updating buggy electronics.
And if Mercedes can't GIVE me that perfect experience, I'm going to spend my money elsewhere.
If watch companies ship a lousy mechanical/smartwatch hybrid (and it WILL be lousy in the software/UI part) all they will do is destroy their brand value and drive people to alternatives. This is human nature. If I pay lots of money for a a watch that does only A, and does it well, I'll be happy. But if I pay the same amount of money for a watch that claims to do A and B, does A just as well as before, but does B badly, I will feel VERY cheated. You can claim this is irrational, but that IS how the psychology will play out...