Samsung is developing a smart wristwatch to rival Apple’s iWatch

Just like Apple, Samsung is working on a smart wristwatch that it hopes to begin selling as soon as possible.

“We’ve been preparing the watch product for so long,” Lee Young Hee, Samsung’s executive vice president of mobile business, told Bloomberg. “We are working very hard to get ready for it. We are preparing products for the future, and the watch is definitely one of them.”

The South Korean tech company did not delve into the details of what features the watch would have, how much it might cost or when consumers would be able to pick it up.

PHOTOS: Is an Apple iWatch in the making?

News of Samsung’s wristwatch plans come after numerous reports have said Apple is building a wristwatch and getting into the wearable tech market. Reports have said the Cupertino tech company has as many as 100 people working on the project and that it hopes to begin selling the device this year.

“The issue here is who will first commercialize it so consumers can use it meaningfully,” Lee told Bloomberg.

Although Apple has not spoken about the watch publicly the way Samsung has, the reports say Apple’s wristwatch will connect with the iPhone to let users make calls, check map coordinates, see caller IDs and count steps using a pedometer.

But Samsung may be able to beat Apple on price. The Bloomberg report says the South Korean company could put out a less expensive device because it manufactures its own screens and chips, unlike Apple.

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