Employees set to receive training in February (next month)

Jan 7, 2015 10:20 GMT  ·  By

“Early 2015” can mean anything from January 1 (which is long gone) to the end of May, if Apple’s trimestrial designations are any indication. However, we now have it on good authority that it’ll ship well before that limit, albeit only in the United States.

On the official Apple.com site, the watch is still slated to debut in early 2015, while European versions of the site won’t even say this much. For the rest of the world, Apple has a separate timetable that will likely see the device released after it makes its US debut.

Shipping to begin in March

Sources familiar with the development of Apple’s up and coming smartwatch are cited by 9to5mac as saying that “the device is currently on track to ship in the United States by the end of March.”

That still puts the launch date close to the early 2015 limit we mentioned in the above paragraph, but it will hopefully not be pushed into the late edge of May. A special event will accompany the launch no doubt, and Apple is said to have planned additional product showcases to draw more attention to the event, and therefore the all-new watch that it hopes to sell to huge audiences.

Employee training

The same sources reportedly said that Apple is looking to give store employees thorough training courses so that they become well acquainted with the hardware and software before customers start barging in asking for demonstrations. The company is known to do this with every new product and even small product upgrades, like the iPhone 5s (with its Touch ID sensor).

One or two high-profile staffers from each store will be flown to Cupertino, California (where Apple’s headquarters are located) or to Austin, Texas (where the company has some offices) to be briefed on the Apple Watch and its subsequent launch. These training programs will reportedly take place between February 9 and February 16. Floor employees will be trained just two days before the watch goes on sale, the report notes.