Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is reportedly entering the production phase for the Apple Watch. This report comes from DigiTimes as cited by sources. A look at the initial batch of orders, the source suggests the smartwatch maker will manufacture 30 million to 40 million watch units. This is comparable to the Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:0059935)’s Galaxy Gear smartwatch which only sold 800,000 pieces within the first two months.
The Apple Watch technology features
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is employing a rather advanced system-in-package technology, beyond the current A-series chips designs. This consists of a single chip with an entire computer system called the S1. It is a piece of custom-designed silicon which stacks and integrates many subsystems into an area that is small enough for a watch.
The new Apple Watch will also feature a Force Touch Retina display, Nearfield Communication for Apple Pay system, Taptic Engine, Wi-Fi connectivity, Bluetooth, wireless inductive charging, and Digital Crown. The latter was designed for navigating the operating system and prompting Siri.
Confirmation of spring arrival
Recently, Angela Ahrendts (senior vice president of retail and online stores) shared a special video note directed to Apple retail employees claiming the new watch would hit stores sometime during the spring. In the message she explained, “[You] guys were hired because you’re the best people in the world. And you know how to service customers, but we are sprinting a marathon right now, and it’s not going to stop. Right? We’re going into the holidays, we’ll go into Chinese New Year, and then we’ve got a new watch launch coming in the spring. So, I just, I really wanted to say, stop for a moment, take a breath. Realize that every customer you touch — and again I know you know this, but you’re really busy — so just every customer that you touch, how do you make sure that they will walk away feeling very different, very positive, than before they walked into that store or they interacted with you?”
Previous reports indicated Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) would launch the highly-anticpated watch around Valentine’s Day. Ahrendt’s message confirms the watch will arrive a little bit later.
Source: Digitimes
