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.
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
9 responses to “Apple Watch chipmakers tackle up to 40 million orders”
I am still trying to figure out why anyone still cares what Steve Wozniak thinks.
I totally agree. Great in early stages of apple, but now just about anything he says sounds odd.
It’s really kind of sad, actually. His whole identity is based on someone he was 40 years ago, but hasn’t been since he left Apple for the first time in 1981.
I agree, STFU Woz, no one cares what you think.
What’s funny is he’ll probably wear one and use it. ;-)
Wozniak faxed us his opinion.
He probably sent it via a dot matrix print out from his Apple II GS on the Apple Thermal printer.
I honestly don’t think they are going to sell 40 Million units in the first year. I can see 10 Million units in the first 12 months, more than that I really have a tough time with much more than that. I’m sure they hope I’m wrong, but what I’m worried about the most is how often these things will get updated and how many people will feel compelled to replace it on a regular basis. Phones i can see people replacing them because they improve a lot of aspects of the phone each year, but this device? I honestly don’t know how much they can or need to change in it other than the usual additional Storage. It’s not a processor intensive device, it doesn’t have a cell phone inside and it doesn’t need much in the way of RAM to load a bunch of apps. I just don’t know what the long term road map is for this thing. I bought my Movado watch about 15 years ago and it still works and I still wear it and it’s the only watch I currently own/wear and I still get compliments on it since it’s a rare model that I don’t think they even make anymore.
I estimate 30-40 million a year initial sales.