14 DAY TRIAL // Reports out of France say that Apple has begun physical preparations for the launch of its highly-anticipated wearable computer. The company’s retail chief reportedly gave the green light to have special stores built solely to promote and sell the Apple Watch.
Fashionmag says the first floor of Galeries Lafayette on Champs Elysees is being retooled to become an Apple Watch display area, and perhaps even a point of sales.
The initiative is being directed by executive Angela Ahrendts, who has been in charge of Apple’s retail business for almost a year now. Apple is believed to have recruited Ahrendts not only for her leadership capabilities, but also for her experience in promoting and selling fashion items.
A wearable computer
Apple believes it will be the first to successfully sell a smart-watch. It trusts that customers will not only enjoy wearing it, but also use it as much as they use their iPhone.
The watch works as a communications device and also tracks a user’s physiology, even alerting him / her to move when they’ve been sitting doing nothing for too long.
Apple initially planned to embed state-of-the-art health-monitoring for things like blood pressure, heart activity, and even stress levels, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal recently. However, the complexity of these sensors and regulations issues made it impossible for the watch to gain this functionality in its first generation.
An $8 billion business
According to the same newspaper this week, Apple has ordered its Asian manufacturers to build between five and six million units of the wearable, 10 percent of which will be the gold Apple Watch Edition, sources said.
Pundit John Gruber did some basic math on his blog to reveal that Apple is looking at an $8 billion (€7 billion) business with the watch, and he also hinted that no one should expect the gold model to be priced under $5,000 (€4,400). In fact, Gruber said, the Edition watch could well cost $10,000 (€8,800).