More and more information continues to leak out about the increasingly real iWatch, with a detailed new report on the wrist accessory coming out today in the news. Bloomberg reports that at one time over 100 product designers were working on Apple’s iWatch project. Their source claims that the watch will let users make calls, check caller I.D, view map coordinates and will also include health tools such as a pedometer and heart rate monitor. The source also says that the watch could be released as early as this year.
Besides the iWatch, another highly speculated upcoming Apple product has been an Apple Television. While profit off Apple’s TV could still be fairly high, it turns out Apple has a lot more potential to earn money off of a rumored watch than the company does from its rumored TV. The profit margins for watches are significantly higher than TVs, with Apple taking in 60% of a watch’s retail price in profit as opposed to only 15% for a TV. If Apple came into the watch market in 2013 and was able to capture 10% of that entire market, they would take in $3.6 billion in the first year alone. This is compared to the $1.79 billion that would be earned if they captured 10% of the TV market in 2013.
“An Apple watch could triple the size of the watch business in a year or two. They have the opportunity to get everyone that owns a cell phone to go out and buy another watch,” stated NPD Group analyst, Marshal Cohen.
If Apple manages to release their iWatch in the last quarter of 2013, we may see an incredibly interesting battle between Apple’s wristwatch and Google Glass. With multiple major companies finally releasing wearable technology products, I feel as though we’re finally arriving in the future. It’s about time too.
