Swatch’s new smartwatch will directly compete with the Apple Watch

Swatch has apparently been hard at work on a smartwatch that will directly compete with the upcoming Apple Watch. According to Swatch CEO Nick Hayek, the Swiss manufacturer of  those colorful timepieces we’re all familiar with will be launching its smartwatch within the next three months that will support both the Android and Windows Phone platforms. 

Swatch Group AG plans to start selling a smartwatch within the next three months, potentially pitting the Swiss maker of colorful plastic timepieces against the debut of the Apple Watch. The device will communicate via a form of technology known as NFC and won’t have to be charged, Chief Executive Officer Nick Hayek said in an interview. The Swatch smartwatch will also let consumers make mobile payments and work with Windows and Android software, he said. Hayek is ready to go head-to-head with Apple Inc., which has scheduled its smartwatch introduction for April. The market for such timepieces, which enable phone or data communication, will probably reach about $10 billion in 2018, Citigroup Inc. analysts forecast last year, with half of the market coming from traditional watch wearers switching to the devices.