iWatch to Come in Two Sizes With 'Fashionable Appearance', Top End to Cost 'Several Thousand' Dollars

[dumastudetto]

The iPhone is Apple's most recognisable brand, it's not dirt cheap but competitively priced.

iPhone is the industry-leading flagship smartphone at the high-end. It usually costs about 25% more than equivalent competitors off contract.

A high-end luxury watch will cost thousands of dollars. I'm sure Apple will be aiming to position itself near the top in terms of price, style and function/experience.

 

[AbblePC]

Hell.....I don't own a watch because 1. I break everyone I ever owned and 2, I have no respect for time.

It's all a Illusion.

Just like a & an are illusions in your post

 

[unibodydesign]

When we look back at these mockups after the real product is out, we will laugh the same way as we do now when looking at iPhone mockups before the original came out.

LOL! That's the best "concept" I've ever seen!

 

[Mattsasa]

laughing at all the unintelligent people on this thread that don't understand the thousand dollars for a watch.

I am wondering what the cheapest/base model iWatch will cost? that seems more important to me. People thinking around $300?

 

[apolloa]

Just wanted to say to those stating digital watches are cheap, well I beg to differ with firstly my watch:

And then Omega announced this at Baselworld 2014:

And lets not forget this lovely Tag Heuer Kirium F1:

 

[unibodydesign]

laughing at all the unintelligent people on this thread that don't understand the thousand dollars for a watch.

I am wondering what the cheapest/base model iWatch will cost? that seems more important to me. People thinking around $300?

Looking sideways at the person on this thread who sneers down their nose at the supposedly "unintelligent people". People DO understand, but Apple ain't selling a watch for "thousands of dollars" - do you think this a feasible prospect? Maybe if you want to customise it with a platinum casing and diamond stud it; I think that's a slight bit tacky for Apple, and beyond the scope of the product, somehow.

iWatch your comment "like" count with interest...

 

[Crosscreek]

Just like a & an are illusions in your post

Grammar police are A illusion also.

 

[figgnuttan]

iPhone

Hi. Yha, I do remember the iPad release being like that. In my recount, I guess I meant the first iPhone cost......thanks for the read.


QUOTE=Unspeaked;18982022]I've got to correct you there - at the time the iPad was released, it was considered amazingly cheap!

I remember the analysts were predicting it would easily cost $1,000 plus, and their jaws dropped when it came out at the price point it did. And much like some of the posts here, there were people saying it would be impossible for Apple to make it for less than 4 figures (remember, this is long before touchscreens and even solid state drives were commonly available in quantity) and they somehow did.

I think that's one of the reasons it took so long for competitors to catch up; the word on the street back then is they were all sitting back waiting for Apple to announce their thousand dollar tablet, and they were all going to jump in right behind with their "cheap" $700 or $800 tablets, but instead were simply left in the dust.

It's actually the one time I remember Apple releasing something that just totally shattered the pre-release price expectations on the lower end of the scale.[/QUOTE]

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Hi. Yha, I do remember the iPad release being like that. In my recount, I guess I meant the first iPhone cost......thanks for the read.


QUOTE=Unspeaked;18982022]I've got to correct you there - at the time the iPad was released, it was considered amazingly cheap!

I remember the analysts were predicting it would easily cost $1,000 plus, and their jaws dropped when it came out at the price point it did. And much like some of the posts here, there were people saying it would be impossible for Apple to make it for less than 4 figures (remember, this is long before touchscreens and even solid state drives were commonly available in quantity) and they somehow did.

I think that's one of the reasons it took so long for competitors to catch up; the word on the street back then is they were all sitting back waiting for Apple to announce their thousand dollar tablet, and they were all going to jump in right behind with their "cheap" $700 or $800 tablets, but instead were simply left in the dust.

It's actually the one time I remember Apple releasing something that just totally shattered the pre-release price expectations on the lower end of the scale.[/QUOTE]

 

[x-evil-x]

A smart watch has a shelf life of a handful of years.
A Rolex will last generations.

i understand that but what do you think is going to happen in the next 25-50 years? as technology evolves as it has the last 10 years i can't see normal watches being very popular in say 2030+. Sure the old schoolers will swear by old school watches but the world is evolving.

 

[bobob]

If Apple blows everyone away with the new technology in iWatch, it won't matter how expensive it is.

If it caters to the price-conscious people, and ends up producing something crappy like Samsung Gear, then it won't matter how low the price is if no one wants to buy it.

This.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

I'd say it will be around $200-$300 max.

Pfft. 200-300 doesnt go far in watch world nor does it go far in apple world. I'm guessing at least 4-500.

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But fiberglass even up to an 8th of an inch thick is flexible. So is aluminum. From what I have gathered is that while sapphire is scratch resistant, it is even more brittle than gorilla glass. You may be right, who knows..

I'm guessing Apple goes either stainless or titanium.

 

[Rogifan]

Really? You stopped reading when you figured out that an analyst with one of the best track records is behind this?

Apple isn't stupid. If there is a high end model in the thousands, it will no doubt be upgradable in some way. If I could buy a really nice $2-$3k version that I could upgrade to new electronics every other year for ~$300, I'd be sold.... And so would a significant amount of other people.

One of the best track records? Really? On yesterday's iMore podcast Rene Ritchie mentioned all the ways he was wrong last year, especially with his roadmap predictions.

 

[agonzalezcasas]

Hi; I just made a iOS interface with the idea of Gábor Balogh; hope u like it!

 

[prowlmedia]

He also predicted the 17 inch MBP being discontinued, the iPad 4 coming out 6 months after the iPad 3, and them restarting iPad 4 production in 2014. But those are "bleeding obvious".

No..he did not. He re-iterated only what MANY MANY others had already said.

iPad 4 release date Many others had commented on.
17" MBP yes - was on the chopping block when the rMP came out. Obvious. As there were bearly any video cards that could drive the 15" at retina let alone a 17"

Apart from the iPad4 which yes is obvious. The 2 would not last forever and the best cheapest option is the 4. My Mum in fact said the same thing without prompts when I said the 'air' was to come out "Oh so will the cheaper iPad 2 become the same one I have now then"

 

[dannyyankou]

iPhone is the industry-leading flagship smartphone at the high-end. It usually costs about 25% more than equivalent competitors off contract.

A high-end luxury watch will cost thousands of dollars. I'm sure Apple will be aiming to position itself near the top in terms of price, style and function/experience.

I don't remember other people talking about those things as he predicted them. Either way, most of the things he says ends up being true anyway.

 

[unibodydesign]

Please stop creating "mock up" and "concept" images if you're not going to look at the design of Apple's product history FIRST; everything Apple has a certain aesthetic "feel" about it, and none of these "concepts" are even remotely related to that.

 

[mojolicious]

Please stop creating "mock up" and "concept" images if you're not going to look at the design of Apple's product history FIRST; everything Apple has a certain aesthetic "feel" about it, and none of these "concepts" are even remotely related to that.

You had me at 'stop'.

 

[unibodydesign]

You had me at 'stop'.

Hehe, good

 

[chambone]

I am going through 11 pages of comments just to appreciate how little people seem to know about watches.

It's surprising how much the 'Swiss made' label is being valued, while it doesn't mean jack. And I love how most brands mentioned in this thread produce what are basically just expensive Swatches.

 

[unibodydesign]

The public's view of what the iPhone would look like:

The public's view of that the iPad would look like:

I don't think you should pay too much attention to any of these short-sighted "mock ups", going on past rumour-fuelled renderings. This is why Apple are running Apple, and you are not.

Also, I don't think you should be too distracted & overly focusing on the "watch" part of the product; I have a distinct feeling that most people are way, way off track.

 

[mac3609]

So true. I don't mind paying several thousand dollars for a Rolex, Omega, Piaget, Cartier, etc. But for an iWatch that will be obsolete in two years. hahahahahaha
Analysts are so clueless.

Just dropped some money on both Rolex Submariner and a Tag Heuer Aquaracer few weeks back. It is one freaking expensive hobby for men that are into this whole watch thing. I wonder if people will pay $2500 for an iWatch if it comes with an AI with a voice like Scarlett Johansson in the movie "Her".

 

[Avatar74]

"Flexible AMOLED displays with sapphire covers to protect the device from scratches."

How does that even work? It has to be one or the other, but not both.

Flexible is not the same as flexing.... The flexible display allows them to contour/conform it, but that doesn't mean that the finished product will flex. Should it be flexible in use? Different question entirely.

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Just dropped some money on both Rolex Submariner and a Tag Heuer Aquaracer few weeks back. It is one freaking expensive hobby for men that are into this whole watch thing. I wonder if people will pay $2500 for an iWatch if it comes with an AI with a voice like Scarlett Johansson in the movie "Her".

I don't know that I would call buying a $10,000 watch a hobby... but I've had 20 years to mull over the foolishness of such things, whereas now I would invest that kind of change.

 

[rp2011]

Flexible is not the same as flexing.... The flexible display allows them to contour/conform it, but that doesn't mean that the finished product will flex. Should it be flexible in use? Different question entirely.
.

OK, now I get it. That makes perfect sense. So if that is the case, then it seems it will not have a typical "watch" face, but rather a contoured face something more like the Nike FuelBand or Gear Fit.

 

[mac3609]

Flexible is not the same as flexing.... The flexible display allows them to contour/conform it, but that doesn't mean that the finished product will flex. Should it be flexible in use? Different question entirely.

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I don't know that I would call buying a $10,000 watch a hobby... but I've had 20 years to mull over the foolishness of such things, whereas now I would invest that kind of change.

A Rolex Submariner is one of the very few watches these days that if you own it and you will never loose a penny if you decided to sell some years down the road. I mean consider if you are into this whole watch thing that you know there are better watches out there than Rolex.

 

[Avatar74]

A Rolex Submariner is one of the very few watches these days that if you own it and you will never loose a penny if you decided to sell some years down the road. I mean consider if you are into this whole watch thing that you know there are better watches out there than Rolex.

That's something salespeople tell you, but I can assure you as a Rolex owner that there's funky math going on.

(The funny thing about these salespeople is they know less about Rolex S.A. than I do... e.g. the fact that it has and always will be owned by the Hans Wilsdorf Trust, and that profits go into the trust to fund watchmaking scholarships....)

Rolex is by no means a rare watch, and the Submariner is probably the most popular model.

When you initially make the purchase, you instantly lose value. If you paid full price, you aren't going to break even on your purchase cost for roughly 15-20 years.

By comparison, if you put $10,000 into an S&P index fund and sat on it for 20 years, given the historical CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) of the index averaging 9.3%, that's (using the Time Value of Money equation):

$10,000 x 1.093^20 = $56,044 or 5.6 times versus just breaking even. And that's not counting the occasional maintenance required to keep its mechanical movement functioning ($500 service every 5-7 years plus parts... which can get into the thousands depending on how rough you are with it).

....from a Rolex owner and financial analyst