TAG Heuer has been very vocal about smartwatches over the past 12 months. In January the watch maker announced it would release a device later this year. It seems the Swiss watch maker is ready to divulge a few more details. Today, at the Baselword watch convention, TAG Heuer announced it has partnered with Intel and Google to produce the smartwatch. Intel will be providing the silicon and Google will provide the software, Android Wear.
According to Jean-Claude Biver, the company’s interim CEO and head of watches for TAG Heuer’s parent company, LVMH, TAG Heuer decided not to produce a watch that was compatible with iOS devices because Apple was producing their own watch. Those of us here at Circuits And Cable Knit are not terribly surprised by this news and speculated earlier this week that the Swiss company had very little choice besides turning to Android Wear. TAG Heuer’s smartwatch is rumored to be based off of the Carrera model (pictured at the top of this post), the mechanical version of which sells for several thousand dollars, depending on configuration.
This creates a demographic issue though for TAG Heuer. According to an IDC study, over 80% of iPhones sold are priced at $400+ while only around 20% of Android phone sold are priced at $400+. By contrast, $0 – $200 devices make up almost 60% of Android’s marketshare and 0% of Apple’s. Additionally, usage maps developed by Mapbox, based on Twitter location data, indicate that iOS has significantly higher penetration in areas that have historically been considered “well to do.”
During the press announcement Biver said the company does know price and specifications but does not want to release more information until closer to the release of the watch. It seems surprising that TAG Heuer would want to hold back any information with the launch of the Apple Watch, arguably the first luxury smartwatch, about a month away. People are making purchasing decisions and Apple is preparing to buy back Android phones to allow people to switch to iOS for the Watch launch. Announcing more specific details would have provided TAG Heuer a tremendous opportunity to disrupt the marketplace. Possibly the company is waiting in the shadows to see how well the different price tiers of the Apple Watch sell through and what features are added at Apple’s developer conference.
Then again, maybe all bets are off and Google is announcing Android Wear for iOS in May!
