Apple Inc launched its long-awaited watch on Monday, including yellow or rose gold models with sapphire faces costing up to US$17,000, but some investors questioned whether chief executive Tim Cook’s first product in a new category would be a breakaway hit.
Apple’s first new device since Cook became chief executive is to be available for order on April 10 and in stores on April 24, including boutiques in Paris, London and Tokyo.
In a nod to both fashion and technology, Cook shared the stage with model Christy Turlington Burns, who said she used the watch to train for a marathon, and Apple engineers who showed how to send drawings, pictures and even heartbeats with the device.
Photo: Bloomberg
However, Apple shares barely budged. Investors and analysts agreed that Apple would sell millions to fans, but questioned whether it had a “killer app” that would engage a broader audience.
Apple in September last year gave a sneak peek of the watch which included many features shown on Monday.
“I think there is a niche market for these kind of Apple tech people who love Apple and will buy anything they come out with, but I just do not know if it is going to be the power product that everyone is looking for,” said Daniel Morgan, senior portfolio manager at Synovus Trust Company in Atlanta, Georgia, who described Wall Street as “scratching its head.”
Photo: Bloomberg
Members of the style establishment, in Paris for shows from the glittering likes of Chanel, Givenchy and Hermes mostly said they see the watch as a gadget, not this season’s must-have accessory.
The Apple Watch Sport is to start at US$349 for the smaller, 38mm model. The standard version of the watch is to start at US$549 and the high-end Edition watch is to be priced from US$10,000, said Cook, who loved the Dick Tracy ability to hold telephone calls by watch.
“I have been wanting to do this since I was five years old,” Cook said.
The different models reflect different materials. A US$17,000 Edition has a 38mm case made from a customized version of 18-karat rose gold, which is especially hard, along with a sapphire display. It comes with a magnetic charging case.
A US$349 Sport model the same size has an aluminum case, a sport band and magnetic charging cable. It lacks a case.
All the watches share digital faces that can look like traditional timepieces, show the heartbeat of a friend and display photos and interfaces for apps.
The Edition price tag — which is inexpensive compared with a Patek Philippe Nautilus at just over US$42,000 — inspired plenty of jibes on social media, including many who questioned whether it would become outdated and compared the price to a car’s.
“Wonder what kind of gas mileage it gets,” Twitter user Christopher Caruso asked.
Many made clear they want it.
“My birthday is gonna rock this year... :-) #applewatch,” Jay Runquist wrote.
“Apple’s been very good at personalizing its products,” said Angelo Zino, an analyst at S&P Capital IQ, who said the “intimacy” of the watch was appealing. He estimated 10 million in sales this year.
In the presentation, Cook described the watch handling many functions currently associated with the iPhone, which tethers wirelessly to the watch and connects it to the Internet.
The watch will track exercise and remind wearers of events with a tap on the wrist.
Cook also laid out other product successes and launched a new MacBook notebook computer that starts at US$1,299 and weighs less than 1kg.
Every major car brand had committed to delivering Apple’s CarPlay entertainment system, and the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have 99 percent customer satisfaction rates, Cook said.
The Apple Pay payment system is now accepted at 700,000 locations, and Time Warner Inc’s HBO is debut its streaming HBO NOW service on Apple TV next month, he added.
Apple also is offering researchers new development tools, called ResearchKit, to help medical researchers design apps for clinical trials, the company said.
DOLLAR CHALLENGE: BRICS countries’ growing share of global GDP threatens the US dollar’s dominance, which some member states seek to displace for world trade US president-elect Donald Trump on Saturday threatened 100 percent tariffs against a bloc of nine nations if they act to undermine the US dollar. His threat was directed at countries in the so-called BRICS alliance, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have applied to become members and several other countries have expressed interest in joining. While the US dollar is by far the most-used currency in global business and has survived past challenges to its preeminence, members of the alliance and other developing nations say they are fed
LIMITED MEASURES: The proposed restrictions on Chinese chip exports are weaker than previously considered, following lobbying by major US firms, sources said US President Joe Biden’s administration is weighing additional curbs on sales of semiconductor equipment and artificial intelligence (AI) memory chips to China that would escalate the US crackdown on Beijing’s tech ambitions, but stop short of some stricter measures previously considered, said sources familiar with the matter. The restrictions could be unveiled as soon as next week, said the sources, who emphasized that the timing and contours of the rules have changed several times, and that nothing is final until they are published. The measures follow months of deliberations by US officials, negotiations with allies in Japan and the Netherlands, and
Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) yesterday said it expects any impact of new tariffs from US president-elect Donald Trump to hit the company less than its rivals, citing its global manufacturing footprint. Young Liu (劉揚偉), chairman of the contract manufacturer and key Apple Inc supplier, told reporters after a forum in Taipei that it saw the primary impact of any fresh tariffs falling on its clients because its business model is based on contract manufacturing. “Clients may decide to shift production locations, but looking at Foxconn’s global footprint, we are ahead. As a result, the impact on us is likely smaller compared to
TECH COMPETITION: The US restricted sales of two dozen types of manufacturing equipment and three software tools, and blacklisted 140 more Chinese entities US President Joe Biden’s administration unveiled new restrictions on China’s access to vital components for chips and artificial intelligence (AI), escalating a campaign to contain Beijing’s technological ambitions. The US Department of Commerce slapped additional curbs on the sale of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and chipmaking gear, including that produced by US firms at foreign facilities. It also blacklisted 140 more Chinese entities that it accused of acting on Beijing’s behalf, although it did not name them in an initial statement. Full details on the new sanctions and Entity List additions were to be published later yesterday, a US official said. The US “will
RSS