“An internal memo indicating that the Apple Watch won’t come out until next spring suggests Apple Inc. may have suffered minor supply constraints, some analysts told MarketWatch on Monday,” Jennifer Booton reports for MarketWatch.
“Any delay may signal the tech giant has failed to lock down the new parts needed for its Apple Watch ahead of time, they say. However, a launch between April and June shouldn’t weigh too heavily on Apple’s share price, despite promises it would arrive earlier in 2015,” Booton reports. “At the same time, the delay could be seen as a sales tactic as Apple preps for a busy six months.”
“As long as the launch isn’t pushed back further, such as into the second half of the year, a delay will only be seen as an example of the fine-tuning that’s typical of the Cupertino tech giant ahead of product launches,” Booton reports. “‘They are eager to get it to market, but, by the same token, Apple has a history of nailing product releases on the first go,’ said Ross Rubin, a principal analyst at tech consulting company Reticle Research. ‘If that means they delay it a month or so to get it right or to get it in the quantities they want to get it in, they are going to do it.'”
Read more in the full article here.
Related article:
Leaked internal video reveals Apple Watch will not be available until spring – November 3, 2014
My biggest bitch about a spring release it it delays my adoption of ApplePay using an iPhone5s.
Look on the bright side, by the time Apple Watch comes out, you’ll be ready to upgrade to iPhone 6S
If I do that then i won’t be able to justify the Apple Watch. What a dilemma! Oh, woe is me!
Was Apple Watch ever officially scheduled for release earlier than next Spring ?
No I would say. This memo is so soon after the announcement of the watch which only specified early next year anyway that any such set back would have had to happen within a week or two of the announcement. To me Spring IS early next year and Apple tends to give time scales of that nature that the analysts always tend to draw to the most optimistic interpretation anyway and then have to account for their error. Never changes and to be honest it’s no problem to Apple as it gives them greater publicity and expectancy over a greater period.
The New MacPro was announced with the intent to make it available to consumers in “late 2013” – which turned out to be December 18th.
I fear, Apple is going to stretch the meaning of the word “early” to new limits.
Probably not. I think Apple wants to give developers plenty of time to write apps for the new platform. Besides, what’s the rush? No company is exactly selling smartwatches in the millions of units despite being around for almost a couple of years. It’s better for Apple to wait until everything falls into place for them and do a blitz global launch. Angela is going to have to plan some glitzy store displays surrounding the launch. It’s not going to be like the Microsoft Band launch where hardly anyone knew it was going on sale.
Anyway, what good is analyst speculation about what goes on internally at Apple. The AppleWatch will be ready when it’s ready and that’s all there is to it.
I seriously can’t believe people expected Apple to launch a major new product in the middle of winter. Are you kidding me? What if a blizzard hits the day before the launch and the east coast is on lockdown in midst of a snow emergency? Come on, man, think.
Back to reality here, I think the prime time for a launch is at the Baselworld fair in Switzerland in March. It’s the biggest, most important watch exhibition with all the major players present. It’d really be a kick in the teeth to all those snobby swiss watch makers who think Apple has no business on their turf.
Even better would be to launch it during Baselworld, but launch not at Baselworld.
I remember when the iPhone and Apple TV were announced during CES. It was the biggest story of CES. I was in a press room with a ton of people glued to a HDTV watching the keynote.
Marketwatch is using ANALYSTS as a source as to why Apple Watch may not come out till spring? You’re kidding? Right?
At least it wasn’t the infamous “supply chain check”.
Analysts Headline Template:
“Analysts on why _________ is delayed until spring: Supply constraints, sales strategies”
Just insert the Apple product name for any Apple product that is expected to come out in the future. Change the Apple name in an old article and publish as a new article.
give the competition plenty of time to suck and rush inferior products to the market. then line ’em up and knock ’em right down.
Again!… A Spring launch is in no way any different than the original commitment Apple provided at announcement. As I said before:
People speculating on dates clearly have no understanding of the three basic trimesters Apple has in a given year. All of Apple’s products are branded either “Early [year]“, “Mid [year]“, or “Late [year]“. So the expectations should be:
Early: January 1 to April 30
Mid: May 1 to August 31
Late: September 1 to December 31
With no delays, people should fully expect to see the watch by April 30, and Apple in no way indicated an earlier date than this. These articles tell me that these people clearly have no understanding of Apple product launch schedules.
I suspect software development is driving the release date. We know the software wasn’t anywhere close to ready at the big reveal in September. Apple may have experienced a setback with the loss of the Arizona sapphire plant, as well, forcing it to increase orders with its alternate sources.
I’m with those others who say take their time and do it right.
…what about FDA approval for the medical type of data gathering what we have heard about, such as blood sugar content, etc?
Just a thought.
Ready when Apple is. I trust Tim Cook and company enough to get it right the first time. That means we all need to be patient while development finishes all the details needed to have an awesome and exceptional launch when everything about Apple Watch is really ready and no sooner just to meet a fake deadline. I’m sure it’ll be well worth the wait. 😃
And I’m fully in agreement with those who mention warmer Springtime weather as key to a successfully monster launch. It’s not rocket science to understand that.
Probably rushing to find a new source of Sapphire lenses 🙂