Is the Louis Vuitton smartwatch worth 430,000 yen? (Kenta Yamaguchi) --Individual--Yahoo! News

Louis Vuitton will release a new model of smartwatch on January 14th. The price starts from about 430,000 yen. In general, there are many models in the 20,000 to 30,000 yen range, so what's the difference?

Louis Vuitton's smartwatch "Tambour Horizon" first appeared in 2017. After the 2nd generation model in 2019, the 3rd generation "Tambour Horizon Light Up" is now available.

The design of the case is based on the Louis Vuitton mechanical watch "Tambour", and the 3rd generation model has a "monogram" on the edge. The "light up" illuminated by 24 LED lights is impressive.

And the biggest feature of the new model is the "new OS with custom design". According to Louis Vuitton Japan, they have switched from "Wear OS" up to the second generation to a new proprietary OS.

Regarding customization, Louis Vuitton has created its own functions instead of installing the app from the Google Play store. Specifically, it is equipped with functions such as "My Day" that displays the schedule and weather information for the day, timers and alarms, music control functions, and "My Travel" that is convenient for traveling.

In particular, as for the travel function, it seems that we are focusing on the same as the previous model, such as supporting the boarding pass of the plane, the reservation status of the hotel, and the "city guide" of 30 cities. Since Louis Vuitton is a brand that originally started with travel trunks, it seems that watches are also conscious of being convenient for travel.

In addition to iOS and Android, Huawei's Harmony OS is also supported as a function for linking with smartphones. In addition, it is said that it has acquired MFi (Made for iPhone) certification, which Apple guarantees to connect with the iPhone, for the first time outside the Apple ecosystem.

Although the Apple Watch is a standard in combination with the iPhone, the introduction of the 18K gold model that was in the earliest period has ceased, and Apple has been absent in the price range exceeding 200,000 yen. It can be said that it is an attractive proposal for those who want to have a smart watch that is different from other people while using the iPhone.

As a contactless payment from the watch, it says that it is compatible with "Alipay", and it can be seen that it is conscious of the Chinese market. According to Louis Vuitton Japan, it does not support payment services that are popular in Japan, so I would like to expect future support for this point.

In addition, Louis Vuitton is developing MFi certified "Horizon Light Up Speaker" and smartphone app "Louis Vuitton Connect" as connected products, and the third generation smart watch is added here. We are also paying attention to the future development of connected products.

The price starts from about 430,000 yen. What is your target?

Prices start at JPY 434,500 or JPY 522,500, including tax, depending on the finish of the case (depending on the strap). It's very expensive for a smartwatch, but it's not much different from a Louis Vuitton mechanical watch.

In the price range close to this, TAG Heuer "Connected" has a unique model of 200,000 yen and Hublot "Big Bang e" has a unique model of 600,000 yen, but both are equipped with Wear OS. The difference is that the 3rd generation model of Louis Vuitton is a unique OS.

Regarding the target, "In addition to the customers who are always patronizing, we hope that you will be interested in those who find value in not being an ordinary connected product" (Louis Vuitton Japan public relations). It seems that they are also expecting to attract the user base.

In general, brands with high prices tend to have high hurdles, but we are making various efforts to get the younger generation interested. Among them, connected products can be said to play a role in appealing to the younger generation who are interested in technology while inheriting the traditional value of the brand.