TAG Heuer CEO calls Apple Watch biggest threat to traditional timepieces, says likely to wear one

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Comments

  • Reply 41 of 63
    Probably too late, but as has been pointed out recently the Swiss watch companies have no hope of ever selling a smartwatch. Android users don't buy Tag watches, let alone Rolexes. And Apple would never let them integrate it with iOS. They will survive by focusing on selling legacy timepieces, not by wasting money on smartwatches. Leave that market to Apple, who will own it.
  • Reply 42 of 63
    Quote:



    Originally Posted by Relic View Post

     

    I'm to old for such toys anyway, a 40 year old shouldn't be wearing such silly things, it's a teenager gadget.


     

    I think Apple has it's eyes set on a wider market than that if John Gruber's estimate of the Edition version costing a little over £3,000 is accurate. Or else very wealthy teenagers are now a large enough segment to keep Apple happy.

  • Reply 43 of 63



    That's his point. TAG are typically mid range / upper mid. £1000-£2000. It's this middle ground that Apple can do well in.

    People aren't passing mid range watches onto their children, they're just a snap decision for a lot of fairly wealthy people.

  • Reply 44 of 63
    solipsismysolipsismy Posts: 5,099member
    rivertrip wrote: »

    50% of zero is a very small number.

    There are definitely moving parts on ?Watch. There is a button and crown. I'm not sure if the display counts since it can sense pressure. The article also doesn't state how this 50% is measured: cost, time, size weight, or some other metric or some combination.

    I firmly believe that there's going to be a lot more to this product than what we've seen so far, including partnerships with traditional timepiece makers like TAG Heuer. That CEO did NOT just do 180-degree pivot on his own or from what "we peons know" about the ?Watch. He's privy to far more than he's letting on to.

    I'd like to think so as the features I feel that would make it a shoe in for me and things I think are simple for a BT devices tethered to my iPhone were not mentioned.

    relic wrote: »
    I'm to old for such toys anyway, a 40 year old shouldn't be wearing such silly things, it's a teenager gadget.

    How many teenagers are in the market for solid gold wrist-worn devices that are rumoured to cost upwards of $5,000?

    A week long battery would definitely be a major selling point, however if no other company has managed to come close to that level of battery performance I'm guessing Apple might be able to squeeze 2-3 days out of the Apple Watch at most?

    Hopefully one of the surprises we see at the next event is ?Watch having more battery life than the expected 1 day. Perhaps that was a way of keeping their competitors off their scent by not talking about any sleep monitoring and suggesting it would only last a day.

    I'm honestly not hopefully at this time as I think the technology is only rarely on the cusp of being viable for a smartwatch, but I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly and accurately Touch ID worked when only comparing it to the other biometrics on the market at the time.
  • Reply 45 of 63
    "Jeeves, tell my driver to ready the horses and my barouche, and let us never hear about this Tesla electric motor carriage nonsense again."
  • Reply 46 of 63
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    flaneur wrote: »
    But I caution you and others not to complain too much in advance about this imagined nightly charging burden.
    It's going to different for everybody. I'm not going to charge my iPad, my iPhone and my ?Watch every night, no matter how pleasurable the experience. Even if it's fun at first, it won't last long. Even now, I forget to put my phone and iPad on the charger at night. Some people wear their watches to bed -- that's going to be a major relearning of habit. Someone said maybe it won't require a daily charge, and the watch will last a day and a Half ... So great, it craps out in the middle of the day! Or 2-3 days, so you never get into a regular habit of charging it. So one more custom, and likely expensive, charger for the car, and the office to buy. And then you have to re-sync it with your iPhone to use ?Pay (as I understand it).

    I have a Tagg GPS tracker and fitness monitor for my dog. It's about the size of an ?Watch. It lasts about a week on a single charge, and is almost as easy as the ?Watch to charge. The whole experience is quite pleasurable, and I love having the price of mind that my dog is safe in her yard,that I could track her if she escaped, and that I know how much exercise she's getting daily. But I can tell you this -- if I had to charge it every night, I would probably only use it for specific occasions, not daily. And that's from someone who really wants and needs he technology.

    You speak of the ?Watch charging process as some kind of addiction, but as any addict will tell you, what got them high this week, may not work in a month. So if an ?Watch early adopter isn't relying on the watch on a daily basis, the initial lure of the charging process is likely to wear off rather quickly, and like my dog tracker anecdote, the ?Watch is likely to end up in a drawer and taken out for specific purposes, and not become the ubiquitous wrist tool Apple is likely counting on it becoming.
  • Reply 47 of 63
    I will be among the first to buy the cheapest version. As an unabashed Apple fan and hobbyist, this is all fun to me. I just want to see for myself whether there is an AppleWatch-sized hole in my life that it will fit. I expect that it will be far less capable than version two or three, but since Apple products have such high resale value, I plan to trade-up. Whether it will ultimately be judged a successful product or not, I intend to enjoy the ride up, or down. Why not?
  • Reply 48 of 63
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    mac_128 wrote: »
    It's going to different for everybody. I'm not going to charge my iPad, my iPhone and my ?Watch every night, no matter how pleasurable the experience. Even if it's fun at first, it won't last long. Even now, I forget to put my phone and iPad on the charger at night. Some people wear their watches to bed -- that's going to be a major relearning of habit. Someone said maybe it won't require a daily charge, and the watch will last a day and a Half ... So great, it craps out in the middle of the day! Or 2-3 days, so you never get into a regular habit of charging it. So one more custom, and likely expensive, charger for the car, and the office to buy. And then you have to re-sync it with your iPhone to use ?Pay (as I understand it).

    I have a Tagg GPS tracker and fitness monitor for my dog. It's about the size of an ?Watch. It lasts about a week on a single charge, and is almost as easy as the ?Watch to charge. The whole experience is quite pleasurable, and I love having the price of mind that my dog is safe in her yard,that I could track her if she escaped, and that I know how much exercise she's getting daily. But I can tell you this -- if I had to charge it every night, I would probably only use it for specific occasions, not daily. And that's from someone who really wants and needs he technology.

    You speak of the ?Watch charging process as some kind of addiction, but as any addict will tell you, what got them high this week, may not work in a month. So if an ?Watch early adopter isn't relying on the watch on a daily basis, the initial lure of the charging process is likely to wear off rather quickly, and like my dog tracker anecdote, the ?Watch is likely to end up in a drawer and taken out for specific purposes, and not become the ubiquitous wrist tool Apple is likely counting on it becoming.

    Like you say, different for everybody. I plug in the old 4S every night, 30 pin, takes some attention. Also the iPad mini, Lightning connector, what a pleasure in contrast. If I get a Watch, it'll be long-lasting fun. Everybody's oxytocin circuits are different. I still get inordinate pleasure from feeling a naked iPhone 4. I'm looking forward to my contract upgrade for the 6 form factor alone. Function is secondary. I think many people feel the same way, which is why much jewelry sells—tactility.
  • Reply 49 of 63
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by esummers View Post



    Wouldn't be surprised if some of these high end watch makers get in to Apple Watch accessories. This may be a new revenue stream for them. That may be the reason for the about-face. Luxury watches are a niche area, I doubt that their existing business will be impacted much by the Apple Watch.



    This is a great point. The one thing that TAG Heuer can do to stay relevant in smart watches is create some unique and amazing bands. This CEO is totally missing the boat. It's gonna be another Galaxy-Gear-type money loser, in both R&D and inventory...

  • Reply 50 of 63
    guyrguyr Posts: 50member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post





    High end watches are both works of fine art and fashion. They fill a different need.

     

    And importantly, they also do not use a battery - as they self wind ( using arm movement) or need to be manually wound.

     

    The quartz watches are either at the lower end of the cost scale, or are more common in women's watches, where it is not possible to put an automatic movement due to the small size.  But these batteries also last several years. 

     

    For all the functions in the world, the longevity of the battery in the Apple watch is going to be key to its success.

  • Reply 51 of 63
    tundraboytundraboy Posts: 1,884member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Relic View Post

     

    I honestly don't get it, putting the horrendous battery life aside, lack of a wireless charging option and with it's just okay looks I have never not wanted something from Apple so bad. As a woman, why would I want to own a piece of jewelry that everyone is going to own as well in the next few months, where is the exclusivity. I'll mess around with the idea of getting a Smart Watch when you won't be able to tell that there is actually a Smart function on top of the mechanical part, half the thickness and lasts for a week on a charge, how about just for three days, can we at least start there. I truly believe that these will start out strong but loose their appeal quickly once people start getting tired of plugging the darn things in every night and come to realize that they aren't actually using them for anything other than checking the time. I'm to old for such toys anyway, a 40 year old shouldn't be wearing such silly things, it's a teenager gadget.




    People who are into watches, a lot of them own more than one.  So switching off watches regularly + auto-synching across all watches goes a lot towards negating (some of) the battery capacity problem.   Companies who sell watches, all of them have several models.  I expect Apple will not limit its watch models to what we see now.

     

    It' a common mistake for people to assume that their idiosyncratic circumstances and preferences is representative of everyone else's.

  • Reply 52 of 63
    inklinginkling Posts: 768member
    He's right. The threat is quite real to watches bought as luxury items and status symbols. There, time-telling ability is irrelevant. They're for show%u2014for snobs to wave in front of other snobs. The only watches that are likely to remain untouched those so expensive their wearers would be ashamed to spend a mere few hundred dollars on an iWatch.

    The iWatch also posses little threat to the watches that many of us wear every day. We simply want a dependable way to tell the time. Also, a watch as fragile as the iWatch will pose no threat Casio's popular G-Shock watches. Their DW5600E-1V is rated space-flight ready by NASA and costs a mere $40.

    Will the iWatch be rated waterproof to 660 feet? I doubt it. Will it survive being dropped off a 10-story building? No. Will the battery last for years. No way.
  • Reply 53 of 63
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Inkling View Post



    He's right. The threat is quite real to watches bought as luxury items and status symbols. There, time-telling ability is irrelevant. They're for show%u2014for snobs to wave in front of other snobs. The only watches that are likely to remain untouched those so expensive their wearers would be ashamed to spend a mere few hundred dollars on an iWatch.



    The iWatch also posses little threat to the watches that many of us wear every day. We simply want a dependable way to tell the time. Also, a watch as fragile as the iWatch will pose no threat Casio's popular G-Shock watches. Their DW5600E-1V is rated space-flight ready by NASA and costs a mere $40.



    Will the iWatch be rated waterproof to 660 feet? I doubt it. Will it survive being dropped off a 10-story building? No. Will the battery last for years. No way.



    Only 660 feet, my Breitling will go to 5000 feet, there are Rolex's that were taken to the deepest point on earth.

     

    Tag got caught out using a modified Seiko design and attempting to pass it off as their own work.

     

    I would never own a Tag.

  • Reply 54 of 63
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by pazuzu View Post



    It's Chinese made.

     

    so's an iphone. and a mac.

  • Reply 55 of 63
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    tmay wrote: »

    These are both cultures ripe for disruption, but I do agree with you that it is the youth of today that will be pushing that disruption, not seniors as myself; I haven't worn a watch in decades. Neither watches nor rings are compatible with my environment.

    Ummm people in general haven't worn watches in decades. Yes even teens use a smartphone to tell time as well.
  • Reply 56 of 63
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Mac_128 View Post



    I'm not going to charge my iPad, my iPhone and my ?Watch every night, no matter how pleasurable the experience. Even if it's fun at first, it won't last long. Even now, I forget to put my phone and iPad on the charger at night. 

     

    i wouldnt either -- ive had several ipads since day 1 and i have never, ever had the need to charge them daily. my iphone doesnt even get charged every day now, and its never been at nite. that being said, i have a charge at my desk at work, and a charger next to the sofa at home. when im at those spots im not moving, so could be the ideal time to charge the watch. 

  • Reply 57 of 63
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by NolaMacGuy View Post

     

     

    so's an iphone. and a mac.




    And some "Swiss" watches, mainly the cheaper ones.

  • Reply 58 of 63
    dobbydobby Posts: 797member

    Tag Heuer is a keen sponsor of Sporting events. I wonder if Apple will start doing the same, you should be able to get some pretty smart info to a watch at real time speeds if it has the right apps. As an example in a sailing comp, instead of having to shout at someone to do something you can use taptic action and have some some info on the screen.

     

    Dobby

  • Reply 59 of 63
    tmaytmay Posts: 6,311member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by cali View Post





    Ummm people in general haven't worn watches in decades. Yes even teens use a smartphone to tell time as well.

    So, the DynaTac (first commercial analog cellphone) was announced in 1984 and I quit wearing a watch in 1989. I guess that makes close to 25 years. Bet you weren't using a cell phone in 1989, and neither was I, though I knew a few people that had them.

  • Reply 60 of 63

    All I know is I can't wait for my Apple Watch to finally arrive.  It's driving me crazy that I don't have one.

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