AppleInsider Staff
A new report from the Far East claims that Apple and its suppliers are now gearing up to launch a second-generation Apple Watch, with orders for the new wearable device said to be higher than the supply chain expected.
Citing its usual supply chain sources, DigiTimes reported on Wednesday that orders for the new Apple Watch have been "rather aggressive." With its current pace of orders, suppliers believe Apple could be looking to ship as many as 2 million units per month.
Apple is said to be buying chips and components for the new wearable device, and shipments are expected to begin in the third quarter of the year, which runs from July through September.
If accurate, that would put the device on track to launch by this fall, or about a year and a half after the first-generation model became available. While DigiTimes has an inconsistent track record in predicting Apple's future product plans, it does have sources in the company's supply chain that catch advance word of component orders.
Externally, the new Apple Watch is expected to look largely the same as the current model, with Apple instead focusing on internal improvements, such as a larger battery and a display with improved outdoor visibility. It's also been rumored that the new Apple Watch will gain cellular connectivity for data on the go without being tethered to an iPhone.
Apple gave its first-generation wearable device a $50 price cut in March, with the 38-millimeter Apple Watch Sport now starting at $299. The larger 42-millimeter version can be had for $349.
The current Apple Watch will also see a software overhaul this fall with the launch of watchOS 3, adding new features like an app dock for quickly accessing preferred and recent applications. The update also places an emphasis on speed, keeping apps in a paused state that will allow them to reopen more promptly.
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48 Comments
watchOS 3 looks to be a major improvement, and a faster second generation model would be a good move (hopefully it'll be A7 derived).
"Reports" have been that sales of the Apple Watch jumped between 30-40% after Apple dropped the price, and put a lot of pressure on Android wear and Tizen based watches, as many cost between $250-$300.
my concern is that Apple has done that for the first gen model, but will go back to the old pricing for the 2nd model. It would likely be best if they retain the new pricing. I'm seeing more of them as time goes on, and most all are the sports models. Just yesterday, on the subway here in NYC I saw a young woman, across from me, wearing the smaller model.
im really interested in the 2nd gen model. I want the black SS version. I'm wondering whether we will see an additional case in Liquidmetal at a slightly higher price than the SS versions. While Liquidmetal is too expensive for most of their products, it's perfect for a watch for which they can charge more, as that's a fairly small amount of material. If they do that, I could be interested, depending on the price, including metal band.
I really hope Apple will offer upgrades for existing users, at least to Watch and Edition users (maybe not Sport). The upgrade path I have in mind would be -- take your watch into an Apple Store and have the old guts swapped out and replaced by the new guts (I'm not suggesting that users can or should do this themselves). I imagine the cost of the upgrade would be about the same as the cost of buying a new Sport.
Why do this? Four related points:
1. If they don't, Edition is dead.
2. Many people view watches as keepsakes. Apple Watch cannot compete in that market if people are throwing them out and/or recycling them every two years.
3. It reinforces the view of Apple employees as craftsmen, and Apple products as valuable things, not disposable things
4. It can be pitched as environmentally friendly -- people aren't discarding, they're re-using.
I'm not predicting they'll do this... just hoping that they will.
Hopefully they mean to get to those sales figures with 'aggressive' pricing.
I doubt the 2nd gen will have cellular. If it does I'd put money on Apple running the service. Similar to an Amazon Kindle with 3G, except instead of the 3G included with the price, Apple charges you $3-$10 a month. More for notifications and small stuff, less for streaming Apple music (I doubt the battery could take much streaming over 3G anyway).
At the very least a new watch coming out right about then would make it easier to substantiate the watchOS 3 being faster claim. You know, if watchOS 3 were in a faster watch it would be faster at opening apps. Right now it doesn't seem any faster at all on built-in apps and generally slightly slower on third party. It is insignificant really and, seemingly, random between opening the same speed and opening slightly slower. I did have slightly higher hopes than normal that things would be snappy. So far it's just the same.