1/26/2016

Second-gen Apple Watch now said to enter mass production in Q2

It’s hard to say what the ideal release cycle might be for smartwatches these early days in their evolution, but apparently, Apple aims to follow its traditional 12-month upgrade window after all.

According to notoriously fickle “sources from the upstream supply chain” quoted by Digitimes, the “second-generation” Apple Watch should only enter mass production in the year’s second quarter, thus having no chance to see daylight as soon as March. Unless, of course, we’re talking a March announcement and subsequent commercial launch in April or May.


Note that the Taiwanese publication doesn’t use the Apple Watch 2 moniker, indirectly adding fuel to the minor revision speculation fire. We don’t want to jump to conclusions, but at the same time, we wouldn’t rule out the imminence of an Apple Watch S, followed by a full-on 2.0 version in the fall.

What’s just about etched in stone is Cupertino won’t require the services of a backup contract manufacturer, i.e. Foxconn, as Quanta, the sole responsible for the original model’s assembly, can probably handle volumes deemed as “not very high” and stagnating demand.

Speaking of, Apple reportedly scaled down 2016 “iWatch” forecasts from even estimates made in the final quarter of 2015. But hey, ample market domination should be enough to please Tim Cook at the moment.

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