People were complaining about the $350 staring price for the Apple Watch being too expensive, but that looks like a bargain compared to what Tag Heuer is working on. The Swiss company has been making watches for well over a century, so I suppose I can forgive them for being so out of touch with modern technology that they think an $1,800 smartwatch is going to sell. Tag Heuer CEO Jean-Claude Biver confirmed the price in a recent interview with CNBC, saying that the Apple Watch will actually help the new $1,800 smartwatch rather than hurt it because the Apple Watch got more young people interested in wearables.
Tag Heuer will unveil its Android-powered smartwatch Nov. 9 at the LVMH building in New York, CEO Jean-Claude Biver told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Tuesday. The connected device will cost $1,800, he said. Previous reports put the price at $1,400.Tag Heuer, French luxury group LVMH’s biggest watchmaker, announced in March it would launch a smartwatch using Google’s Android operating system in a venture with Intel to compete head-on with the Apple Watch. Apple has recently pushed further into the high-end market, announcing at its product launch earlier this month it would team up with luxury brand Hermes to offer bands to Apple Watch buyers. Biver told CNBC earlier this year he believed the Apple Watch would boost the timepiece industry by capturing the interest of young consumers, among whom watches are not in fashion. On Tuesday, he said he loved the Apple-Hermes deal because it shows that the smartwatch has cracked the luxury market. “We were a little bit concerned about the price, because we’re going to sell it at $1,800 … and now we are quite reassured because Apple is telling us we can sell at $1,500 or even more,” he said. “I’m very, very pleased.”
