“Well-informed KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has in the past proved accurate in predicting Apple’s moves, estimates Apple Watch preorders will exceed 2.3 million units, though production bottlenecks relating to the device’s haptic vibrator and advanced OLED screen are restricting rollout,” Mikey Campbell reports for AppleInsider.
“Considering Apple’s current supply chain capacity and future expansion plans, the analyst is targeting production at 2 to 3 million units per month, with output potentially topping out at 2.5 million units in June,” Campbell reports. “Existing limitations could hinder accelerated manufacture, however. Currently, Apple is seeing restricted supply of vibration motors from Hong Kong-based manufacturer AAC and flexible AMOLED screens from LG Display, which is said to be Watch’s sole display supplier.”
Campbell reports, “Given supply chain bottlenecks and time to ramp up consumer demand, Kuo estimates Apple to ship between 15 and 20 million Apple Watches in 2015”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: So, if accurate, Apple will be selling, or have already sold, every Watch it can make for the foreseeable future.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Lynn Weiler” and “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
Analyze that you dumb analysts…
Maybe they should be second-sourcing displays from Samsung. 🙂
I am planning on taking my wife into the Apple Store, to have a look at it. I suspect she will want it, after wearing it.
Well-informed KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has in the past proved accurate in predicting Apple’s moves
… And NOT. What is it with the sucking up to this guy in the tech press? And why do all these quotations of his rumor mongering consistently say ‘well-informed’ blahblahblah? Does he hand them a marketing jingle card? Is there music to go along with the jingle?
♬ Well-informed ♪♪ respectable track record ♩♬ Ming-Chi Kuo! 🎶
Ming-Chi Kuo is a woman.
Thank you!
Is Ming a real person or a made up conduit for (negative) Apple information?
I’ve often said that when places publish predictions or rumours from analysts, there should also be a list of previous statements and rumours ( including hits and misses ) from that source so that we can judge how much attention their statement deserves.
If somebody has proved to be reliable in the past, I like to be told that and will pay more attention to what they say. Conversely, when somebody is usually wrong, I stop reading the article once I spot their name as the source.
Kinda like Mean Gene Munster?
I like your idea alanaudio, and I have to think that it would be pretty wild to have an “ical” feature at MDN, say an article or graphic once per month so that you can get all the fun stuff analysts said a year ago.
Or the top 3,5 or 10 botches from the ical calendar a year ago.
I can just imagine what MDN’s calendar must look like.
My prediction of “30 million by the end of the June quarter” is always been accompanied by “sold or on waiting list” because the biggest constraint for Apple Watch sales will be Apple’s production rate. The demand is there to sell every watch FASTER than they are being produced.
My other prediction has been… It’s not about how many Apple can sell in 2015. It’s about how many Apple can make. The “analyst” who gets that number right (or closest) will be the one who most skillfully researches Apple’s production capacity. I think there will be a waiting list through the rest of 2015.
Here’s one old Ming missed the target by millions of units. From Apple Insider:
“Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo: Apple’s 5.5-inch ‘iPhone 6’ faces production issues, launch may be pushed to 2015
By Neil Hughes
Sunday, July 13, 2014, 03:58 pm PT (06:58 pm ET)
Apple’s rumored 5.5-inch “phablet” iPhone model is said to be facing issues with its new in-cell touchscreen panel, as well as color unevenness on the new “iPhone 6″ metal casing, which could see the device’s launch pushed back to next year, leaving the smaller 4.7-inch model to debut alone this year, according to one industry insider.”
These production issue rumors always come out for Apple products. It will be even more prominent for the 1st generation product especially if there is high demand.
Kuo is generally pretty accurate but also sometimes does get it wrong.
There always will be production ramp issues. It is normal to experience hiccups. I suspect demand will outstrip supply for several months. How the stock market will use this to pump or dump Apple stock remains to be seen.
I’m getting sick of hearing analysts talking about supply constraints when the supply just is what it is – JIT – just in time – Tim Cook does not pay for warehousing and apple does not carry huge unsold inventory. There’s no huge mistake in launching with 2.5 million units. If the watch remains in such demand through the summer and Apple ramps to 5 million/month for their Q1 holiday quarter – can’t wait to see that earnings.