Apple was rather tight-lipped about how the Apple Watch performed during the product’s mid-life cycle. After which, we started seeing the Apple wearable start gaining traction (at least in published sales reports).
They were number two, behind Fitbit – if these numbers were indeed true but with sales dwarfing that of other mainstream smartwatch brands (e.g. Samsung and Pebble), would Cupertino allow the Apple Watch to see out a longer product cycle to ensure big advancements across versions? Or will they make small refinements across generations – like we’ve seen on the iPhones with a distinctive “s” being all the difference.
TechCrunch’s latest report believes it could be one or the other.
Based on multiple sources, the report suggests that we could see the same Apple Watch (in essence) tieing up with designers and add-on accessory makers but no massive changes in hardware. Contradictory to the fact, other sources claim that there will be one major difference on the latest smartwatch from Apple: a FaceTime camera.
An analyst from Creative Strategies, a market research firm says that dormant supply chain checks are key signs that no new Apple Watch is currently being produced.
He continues by saying the cuts in component providers’ supply chains, it just doesn’t add up that a new smartwatch would be on the way – if anything, production should’ve started in the tail end of 2015 to be out by the first half of 2016. Mr Bajarin, observes that in light of this information, Apple’s product patterns might take a big shift in direction.
On the software side of things, it seems to be just as quiet and that seems to just add fire to the assumption of the Apple Watch 2.0 announcement being a long way off. But then again WatchOS2 was just announced a while back, so there’s that to consider as well.
Will Apple have a keynote in March? Definitely. What will unveil during that time? The Apple Watch 2.0 would be unlikely.
Changing the product-cycle of the Apple Watch could bring some good after all. With smaller devices, technological advancements happen less often, because well… you can only make things so small. This extra breathing room between generations could easily bring about more hardware changes and big jumps between what our wrist companions can actually do.
Whatever Apple has in the works, we’ll keep on monitoring and keep everyone updated. Share with us your thoughts about what the next Apple Watch could possibly bring, in the comments below.
