Samsung reveals it is working on an Apple iWatch rival

Samsung is developing a smart watch in a bid to expand into new markets and match its rival Apple, the company's mobile technology vice president said today.

The hi-tech wristwatch will perform many of the tasks of a smartphone and could provide a profitable new sales avenue for the firm to explore as sales of smartphones slow.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Lee Young Hee is quoted as saying: "We've been preparing the watch product for so long. 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."

Last month, the New York Times reported that Apple was experimenting with the design of a device similar to a wristwatch that would operate on the same platform as the iPhone and would be made with curved glass.

Shares in both Samsung and Apple have taken a hit as the world's top two mobile device manufacturers keep underwhelming consumers with their latest smartphone models.

The Galaxy S4, unwrapped to much fanfare in New York to challenge Apple's iPhone on its home turf, offered some incremental evolutionary improvements, but media reports have since suggested these features may not be sufficient to excite buyers in an industry that lives and dies by innovation.