It has been a while since Apple introduced its first wearable device, the Apple Watch, and since its announcement last fall, consumers have been itching to get their hands on the smartwatch.
The Apple Watch made the headlines in September, but the tech giant has been vague about the specific release date of the device and just gives a flimsy "early next year" for its launch. It has led to speculations that the device will appear in the first quarter of 2015.
KGI Securities analyst Ming Chi Kuo, who is knowledgeable about Apple-related rumors, predicted that the highly-anticipated smartwatch will be released in March. He added that all of the shipments will be completed by the end of March.
Kuo predicted that Apple Watch shipments are expected to be around 2.8 million units just this quarter until March 2015. If Apple manages to hit that mark, then it would be quite an impressive feat since wearables do not rank high in the market. Moreover, the Cupertino-based tech giant entered the market quite late as there are a number of smartwatches already in the arena.
Different from Kuo's speculations, Taiwanese media source TechNews claimed that the company will hold a press event on Feb. 24 where it will officially roll out the Apple Watch alongside the MacBook Air. This coincides with 9to5 Mac's Mark Gurman's statement that the Apple Watch will be shipped in March and the employees will be trained in mid-February. He predicts that the smartwatch will cost around $349.
There are other reports stating that the Apple Watch release date was pushed back as far as the coming spring. The device is speculated to be announced with the rumored iPhone 6S or a lower-end Apple smartphone purported to feature a 4-inch screen display and lower-grade specs and features.
Apple has not squealed concrete details about the device other than those on its website, and people are expected to learn more about the smartwatch in the coming days.
