14 DAY TRIAL // A report from Korea indicates that Apple is on track to roll out its revolutionary iWatch later this year in two distinct configurations, in order to cater to both men and women. Cupertino has reportedly tapped LG Display for the flexible OLED displays.
iWatch is coming in late 2014 according to sources speaking to Korea’s Naver.
Two screen sizes are being planned, one measuring 1.3 inches, the other 1.5 inches (on the diagonal). The iPhone maker reportedly intends to sell around 9 million units around launch time, which is nothing short of ambitious by any standard.
The different sizes are said to be Apple’s way of gearing the devices towards male and female audiences.
In preparation of the iWatch launch, CEO Tim Cook has made a few key hires, including Karl Heiselman, from Olins Global, and Angela Ahrendts from Burberry. The latter in particular is believed to be a key hire as Apple might position the iWatch as a luxury / fashion item as much as a handy gizmo.
KGI Securities’ Ming-Chi Kuo has voiced a concern that the elusive device might sell in “the thousands of US dollars,” whereas Timothy Arcuri, an analyst with Cowen & Co., imagines that Apple will use health insurers to subsidy the cost of the smart-watch, much like it does with iPhone and carriers worldwide.
“We continue to believe it is possible the product (iWatch) is backstopped by some sort of insurance subsidization model similar to the carrier subsidization model for iPhone,” Arcuri wrote in a research note last week.
“We continue to feel this product will differentiate itself with existing wearable products primarily from a health perspective with a number of key innovations including noninvasive blood cell count and blood pressure and other more pedestrian features like heart rate,” Arcuri added.
Cowen & Co. expects Apple to build between 5 and 10 million units each quarter, with plans to ship a total of 18 million units in 2015.
The launch date appears to be the bigger uncertainty now. Whereas once the iWatch was a feeble rumor that few expected to materialize, the product is almost confirmed at this point. Apple will either use its Worldwide Developers Conference (in June) or a later event planned for the September quarter to unveil the wearable computer.
The California fruity company also has new versions of the iPhone planned for launch this year, as well as a couple of Mac refreshes and new iPad upgrades, according to reports.