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 The company provided a sneak preview of the "Apple Watch" in
September, has shown it to fashionistas, and even bought a 12-page
advertising spread in Vogue magazine, but fans and skeptics are
eager for more details.
With a rectangular face of about 1.5 inches (38 mm) in the smaller
of two sizes, the watch wirelessly tethers to an iPhone, measures
heart rate, and can tap wearers on the wrist to signal a new message
or appointment. The price will start at $349.
Apple has said the watch will launch in April and speculation is
rife on what capabilities, from healthcare and fitness to navigation
and entertainment, will be included. Apple fans have been waiting
for a new type of product for five years, raising expectations.
It is an open question whether Apple or anyone else can create a new
market for watches. The first watches based on Google Inc's Android
Wear software became available last year.
Companies, including Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, G Electronics Inc,
Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and Qualcomm Inc, collectively have not
yet had a wearable hit. More companies are expected to test the
waters this year, including possibly Xiaomi Technology Co Ltd,
China's largest maker of smartphones.
Meanwhile, traditional watch brands such as Swatch are beginning to
make timepieces with features such as activity tracking.
Roughly 4.6 million smartwatches were shipped in 2014, according to
research firm Strategy Analytics. Analysts estimate that Apple could
sell anywhere from 10 million to 32 million Apple Watches in 2015.
By comparison, Apple sold about 15 million iPads in 2010, after an
April launch.
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Apple will have to "tweak" its stores to handle the watch, Cook told
the Telegraph newspaper recently.
Cook is expected to take stage at 10 a.m. PST (1 p.m. EST) on Monday
in a carefully choreographed presentation. The company has not
confirmed the event is about the Watch, but the invitation simply
reads "Spring Forward," a word play on the resetting of watches for
daylight savings, which begins the day before.
(Reporting by Edwin Chan and Alexei Oreskovic; Writing by Peter
Henderson; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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