“While new gadget categories — such as the supposedly forthcoming ‘iWatch’ — could fetch Apple plenty of attention this year, and take some pressure off CEO Tim Cook, the bulk of its growth is more likely to come from a familiar source: The iPhone, which will be 7 years old this weekend,” Dan Frommer writes for Quartz.
“For some perspective on this, former Apple executive Jean-Louis Gassée wrote this week, ‘The most ambitious rumors project 50 million iWatches sold in the first 12 months. I think that’s an unrealistic estimate, but if a $300 iWatch can sell at these numbers, that’s $15B for the year. This seems like a huge number until you compare it to a conservative estimate for the iPhone: 50 million iPhones at $650 generates $32B per quarter,'” Frommer writes. “Over the past several years, the iPhone has generated more than half of Apple’s revenue and likely more of its profits. (Apple doesn’t disclose gross margin per product line, but it’s widely estimated that the iPhone is the company’s most profitable product line, thanks to its high pricing and mobile-operator subsidies.)”
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Jean-Louis Gassée: iWatch won’t sell in numbers, dollar volume, or profit comparable to iPhone or iPad – June 23, 2014