Report: Apple's iWatch may be announced this year

[jayanji]

Apple's rumored iWatch may get its unveiling sooner than later.

The company is seeking to introduce the device as soon as this year, according to Bloomberg. The wire service previously reported that Apple had roughly 100 people working on the project.

CNET contacted Apple for comment, and we'll update the story when the company responds.

The iWatch may end up being more profitable than Apple's other rumored new business, the television. While the television business is saddled with low margins, a long replacement cycle, and high costs, the watch business boasts higher margins and growth. The popularity of cell phones has eliminated the need for many to wear watches, but some believe they are coming back thanks to the advent of health monitors and sensors. The Nike Fuelband, for instance, is considered a fashionable watch in addition to a fitness tool.

Report: Apple's iWatch may be announced this year - Crave - Cool Tech & Gadgets - CNET Asia

 

[jayanji]

'iWatch' could be bigger 'cash generator' for Apple than television market

Apple's wearable version of iPhone, iWatch, could turn out to be a bigger cash generator for the tech giant than its long-rumoured foray into the television market, a report has said.

According to Citigroup Inc. analyst Oliver Chen, the global watch industry will generate over 60 billion dollars in sales in 2013.

While that's smaller than the pool of revenue that comes from televisions, gross margins on watches are about 60 percent, he said.

A Bloomberg Industries analyst Anand Srinivasan said that this is four times bigger than for televisions, the Telegraph reports.

According to Chen, Apple iWatch 'can be a six billion dollars opportunity for the firm, with plenty of opportunity for upside if they create something totally new like they did with the iPod'.

The TV industry will generate 119 billion dollars in sales this year, according to market-research firm IHS Electronics & Media, the paper said.

Using Chen's margin estimates, a 10 per cent share for Apple in each market would mean gross profit of 3.6 billion dollars for watches, outstripping 1.79 billion dollars for televisions, the paper added.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/-iwatch--could-be-bigger--cash-generator--for-apple-than-television-market-say-experts/1083407/

 

[jayanji]

iWatch Could Net Apple Billions – Unless the Samsung Galaxy Watch Arrives First

How much is Apple’s fabled iWatch worth to you? $150? $200? Or would you be willing to pay even more if it pretty much replaced the need for an iPhone?
Well, at least one industry analyst seems to have already pinpointed how much the iWatch could be worth for Apple and has earmarked the world’s first true Smartwatch for revolutionary greatness on the scale of both the first iPod and the iPhone.
According to Oliver Chen of Citigroup, the iWatch could potentially be worth no less than $6 billion to Apple, if the Cupertino company makes all the right moves…as of course they do, and will. The reason for such high estimates is the way in which the iWatch doesn’t represent the usual slight modification of what we already have, but instead heralds the dawn of a completely new market with something the likes of which we’ve never seen before.

iWatch Could Net Apple Billions – Unless the Samsung Galaxy Watch Arrives First | Press Blue