SAN FRANCISCO, CA - MARCH 7 (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
Apple has been secretive in the past about new products. Rumors about what’s ahead usually originate in Asia from checks with Apple suppliers, but recent rumors about iWatch were a departure from the past. They did not appear as usual in Asia but almost simultaneously in the New York Timesand The Wall Street Journal. The information on iWatch in the two venerable publications came just before Apple CEO Tim Cook was to speak at Goldman Sachs Technology conference.
Bloomberg has cited unnamed insiders as saying that a team of 100 employees have been working on iWatch. According to Bloomberg, Apple’s senior director of engineering, James Foster, and another executive are leading a team. The fact that more details than usual have appeared in American media indicates the likelihood that Apple is planting the story about iWatch. The question is, “Why is Apple departing from its past practice?”
One theory is that Apple is acting out of desperation. Tim Cook has been talking about innovation but not many seem to believe him. At Goldman’s conference, Tim Cook said that innovation culture at Apple has never been stronger. Perhaps Apple leaked details of iWatch to put some meat on the statement by Cook.
The other theory is that Apple found out about a watch-like product that Samsung is working on. A Korean website, Ruliweb, has leaked screen shots of Samsung Altius; many consider this to be equivalent of iWatch.
If Apple felt that it was behind Samsung in introducing a watch like device, the leaks from Apple were simply designed to preempt any momentum that Samsung may gain.
Only about a month ago a site by the name of SAMMOBILE claimed that the next generation Galaxy device was code named Altius; the description of the Galaxy device on this site is that of a phone and not of a watch.
It is also difficult to tell if Altius is a Google Android based device or potentially a Tizen based device. Tizen is a new giant rising to challenge the dominance of Google and Apple. (See, “Tizen Rising, Ready To Challenge Apple And Google In 2013“.)
Is Apple becoming more proactive, or is Apple getting desperate? The answer, in part, will determine the future direction of Apple stock. LINK
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