TAG Heuer’s successor to its Connected smartwatch is expected to be a modular wristwatch where the touchscreen smartwatch can be swapped out for a mechanical automatic.
Unnamed sources close the Connected project have told AndroidCentral, a respected online forum dedicated to Android-based technology.
The watch, which is expected to be called TAG Connected Modular, will be sold as a package including the smart module, the automatic timepiece and a choice of strap.
The innovation would allow owners to create limitless styles of wristwear as the smartwatch has downloadable faces while straps in several materials and colours will be available – a dream scenario for TAG Heuer retailers that could see customers coming back into stores over and over for new looks.
AndroidCentral says the Connected Moudlar will be unveiled on March 14 – a questionable date with Baselworld starting on March 23 – but possible if TAG Heuer wants to make all the pre-Basel noise.
Officially, the most recent statement from TAG Heuer was that it will introduce its second generation of its Connected smartwatch in May, with the new edition expected to drive sales up to 150,000 units in 2017.
Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of TAG Heuer and head of the the LVMH Watch Division, said in January this year that sales of 56,000 in the 14 months since it first launched its Intel-based Connected smartwatch, had exceeded expectations.
“We are very satisfied with it. We sold much more than the 20,000 we originally expected,” Mr Biver told Swiss broadsheet Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ).
The Modular Connected would not be an extreme leap for TAG Heuer. The company offered the first customers of its Connected watch the promise it could be exchanged for a mechanical automatic from the brand.
