A new report by Canalys this afternoon forecasts electronics manufacturers are expected to ship 5 million smart watches in 2014, prompting many to wonder whether the likes of Apple will enter the game. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo cited a possible 2014 iWatch release date at the earliest, which would coincide with Canalys’s report.
To the delight of tech junkies everywhere, the smart watch market has taken off as of late with the Kickstarter-backed Pebble and Sony SmartWatch 2 already launching their respective innovative wristwear. Just yesterday Microsoft’s Surface team was reported to be working on a smart watch prototype of their own.
The biggest question mark, though, has to lie with Apple and its possibility of putting a smart watch into production. Apple has been rumored to be working on the unofficially named iWatch, and have tested 1.5-inch OLED screens and filed an iWatch trademark in Japan.
Kuo noted that “Apple may not have adequate resources to develop an iWatch version of iOS because it may require big changes to iPhone and iPad iOS this year. In addition, wearable device components aren’t mature. For these reasons, we think mass production of the iWatch is more likely to begin in 2H14, not 2H13 as the market speculates.”
Apple recently implemented a redesign overhaul with its next-generation iOS 7 mobile operating system; however, design head Jony Ive had to snag engineers from the OS X team in order for iOS 7 to ship in time for the Cupertino company’s World Wide Developers Conference back in June.
According to Canalys, “Hardware design will be critical for smart watches, as consumers will only want to wear fashionable products.” It’s a good thing, then, that Apple recently plucked former Yves St Laurent CEO Paul Deneve to add to its payroll. Not only does Deneve have a history of employment with Apple, but also his experience working in the high-end fashion industry could perfectly fuse tech and style to the benefit of iWatch sales.
Stay tuned for the latest iWatch and smart watch updates. In the meantime, let us know in the comments section below how you think an iWatch would fare in comparison to the success of other Apple products and whether or not you would buy/wear/use one for yourself.
