GENEVA -- When Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of luxury watch maker Tag Heuer, pulls out the smartwatch the Swiss company will begin selling in November, he makes one thing clear: "We will not compete against Apple or Samsung." The reason he offers is compelling. "If we do that, we will disappear."
Biver, who is also chairman of Hublot, another Swiss maker of high-end watches, spoke with The Nikkei recently on a wide range of topics, from China's economic slowdown (he's not worried about it), to the scandals that have plagued FIFA, soccer's governing body (he "personally trusts" its embattled president, Sepp Blatter). But it was the company's much-anticipated new timepiece that dominated the conversation.
