Berlin, Germany – Apple’s long-awaited smartwatch looks “too feminine” and its design will not stand the test of time, luxury giant LVMH’s watch guru has told German media.
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Jean-Claude Biver, who heads the French group’s luxury-watch division, said the US tech titan had made “some fundamental mistakes” designing the Apple Watch.
“This watch has no sex appeal. It’s too feminine and looks too much like the smartwatches already on the market,” Biver said in an interview with daily Die Welt.
“To be totally honest, it looks like it was designed by a student in their first trimester,” added Biver, who heads up the brands Tag Heuer, Zenith and Hublot.
Biver predicted the much-anticipated device, with its square face and curved edges, would soon be outdated.
“Luxury always has something timeless, it’s rare and conveys prestige,” he was quoted as saying, adding that the same could not be said for Apple Watch, which is expected to be bought by millions of customers and will likely be beyond repair in a few years’ time.
Biver is not the first watch chief to be dismissive of Apple’s efforts. Swatch CEO Nick Hayek earlier told Swiss media that the world’s biggest watch group was “not nervous” about Apple’s foray into the market.
Apple Watch, which comes in several colours and links to the iPhone, will start at $349 (270 euros) when it is released early next year. The wrist device is the first new product category to be launched by Apple since the death of co-founder Steve Jobs in 2011.
Ok a few of things: First anyone in the watch business that goes around saying the other guys watches are no good is all because he doesn’t like competition! Second how can you compare a smart watch with a luxury watch? They are completely different! That’s like comparing a Prius to an Aston Martin! They are both excellent cars but are extremely different. Third the watch doesn’t look overly feminine. Rather it looks like it is, unisex. Depending on the band that you’ll match up will be what kind of look it will look like. However I don’t get why anyone needs this watch at all because you need your $200 plus iPhone to use it with. So basically your spending $349 for an accessory for your phone. That’s nuts. Unless money is no object for you, the benefits do not out weigh the cost.
One just has to look at the CEO of AAPL to no longer
wonder why the design is feminine.
To buy apple products is to support toeiva, pure and simple.
They have an agenda which the gullible will buy, but not me.
pure sour grapes. he has his luxury brands to sell. let him do that. apple is no competition to him. why say things like that.