Apple to ship over 63 million iWatches next year: Reports

September 2, 2013 Leave a comment

Apple to ship over 63 million iWatches next year: Reports

TAIPEI — Two suppliers in Taiwan have received orders to build Apple’s highly anticipated iWatch for release next year, according to local reports.

BY –

30 AUGUST

TAIPEI — Two suppliers in Taiwan have received orders to build Apple’s highly anticipated iWatch for release next year, according to local reports. Taiwan’s Apple Daily newspaper reported that Quanta Computer will split the iWatch orders with Inventec on a 60-40 basis, citing unnamed sources. Meanwhile, CIMB Securities analyst Wanli Wang projected in a report that Apple might ship 63.4 million units in the first year after its launch, with an average price of around US$199 (S$254).Wearable computing devices such as Google’s Glass eyewear are widely seen as the next big thing in consumer electronics, following the huge popularity of smartphones.

In May, Apple CEO Tim Cook did not rule out the possibility of Apple developing a wearable product when he spoke at AllThingsD conference.

He said: “It’s an area that’s ripe for exploration, it’s ripe for us to get excited about. Lots of companies will play in this space.”

Apple has not indicated whether it is working on a smartwatch, but in July the company filed an application to register “iWatch” as a trademark in Japan, under product category for a computer or watch device, the Daily Telegraph reported.

A smartwatch could either operate autonomously or connect to a user’s smartphone and provide updates or information without needing them to consult their phone directly.

Samsung recently revealed in an interview with The Korea Times that its hotly-anticipated Galaxy Gear smartwatch will be unveiled on Sept 4. Ms Lee Young Hee, executive vice-president of Samsung mobile, said the device will run on Android, and would not have a flexible display.

“The new device will enhance and enrich the current smart mobile experience in many ways. It will lead a new trend in smart mobile communications. We are confident that the Gear will add meaningful momentum to the mobile industry,” she said.

Google and Microsoft are also reportedly racing to develop their own watch-type computing devices. AGENCIES

Filed under TMT Trends

Unknown's avatarAbout bambooinnovator
Kee Koon Boon (“KB”) is the co-founder and director of HERO Investment Management which provides specialized fund management and investment advisory services to the ARCHEA Asia HERO Innovators Fund (www.heroinnovator.com), the only Asian SMID-cap tech-focused fund in the industry. KB is an internationally featured investor rooted in the principles of value investing for over a decade as a fund manager and analyst in the Asian capital markets who started his career at a boutique hedge fund in Singapore where he was with the firm since 2002 and was also part of the core investment committee in significantly outperforming the index in the 10-year-plus-old flagship Asian fund. He was also the portfolio manager for Asia-Pacific equities at Korea’s largest mutual fund company. Prior to setting up the H.E.R.O. Innovators Fund, KB was the Chief Investment Officer & CEO of a Singapore Registered Fund Management Company (RFMC) where he is responsible for listed Asian equity investments. KB had taught accounting at the Singapore Management University (SMU) as a faculty member and also pioneered the 15-week course on Accounting Fraud in Asia as an official module at SMU. KB remains grateful and honored to be invited by Singapore’s financial regulator Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to present to their top management team about implementing a world’s first fact-based forward-looking fraud detection framework to bring about benefits for the capital markets in Singapore and for the public and investment community. KB also served the community in sharing his insights in writing articles about value investing and corporate governance in the media that include Business Times, Straits Times, Jakarta Post, Manual of Ideas, Investopedia, TedXWallStreet. He had also presented in top investment, banking and finance conferences in America, Italy, Sydney, Cape Town, HK, China. He has trained CEOs, entrepreneurs, CFOs, management executives in business strategy & business model innovation in Singapore, HK and China.

Leave a comment