Apple chipmakers are gearing up to start production of the Apple Watch, according to a new report. Orders for the chips suggest that the initial production run is likely to be between 30-40 million units.
If accurate, these figures fall in the middle of previous guesstimates regarding how many Apple Watches Cupertino plans to sell in 2015.
One recent report claimed that Apple has placed orders for shipments of up to five million AMOLED panels per month, which would suggest sales of 50+ million units next year. More conservatively, Gene Munster has predicted that Apple’s first year sales for the new device will come in at around the 10 million unit mark.
Apple is supposedly planning to launch the Apple Watch in February next year, albeit with only a limited supply at first. Currently a few Apple engineers have been seen testing the devices in the wild.
The Apple Watch will start at $349 for the base model, with the more expensive gold options possibly setting customers back between $4,000 and $5,000.
While Tim Cook and Jony Ive are both bullish about how significant the device is going to be, however, not everyone is quite so keen: Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak recently described it as a “luxury fitness band” instead of a must-have product.