Apple’s iWatch – More Than Your Typical Watch?

Steven Petrov

The Paw Print

Too many uncertainties surrounding the company’s new product

When Apple began to develop and engineer its smart watch, the company’s senior management presented their views on the product by classifying it as the most modern tech device that will have various functions including a complete healthcare sensor that could measure blood pressure, heart rate, stress levels etc.  However, neither one of these unique features for a watch ended up being part of the long-waited “iWatch” device that is expected to hit the markets in April.

Some of these functions didn’t work that well, others ended up being too complicated to be incorporated into a watch, and some actually caused an increased number of inspections by various regulators.

This has left Apple’s management team in a really tough position, trying to justify why people would want to buy this product and more importantly why they would need it. Tim Cook’s response describes the “iWatch” as a product that will offer a little bit of everything – fashion accessory, easier received and sent data, Apple Pay shopping, new ways of communication, as well as a daily activity calendar.

The majority of Apple’s revenues come from their most successful product, the iPhone. This shows a great success of the particular product but definitely raises questions of how the company will cope with any decline in the revenues generated by iPhone, which currently represent over 70% of the company’s total revenue.

Tim Cook aims to try to further diversify the company’s product line by introducing another extremely successful product to the customers. This will also reassure customers and shareholders that Apple’s innovation capabilities are still present and the company is still able to develop unique products with a supreme level of quality.

The “iWatch” is also going to be on the “borderline” between consumer electronics and jewelry by developing a different quality and appearance expectation among customers. Apple plans to release different variations of the first ever “iWatch” which will start from $349. The higher-class models will offer variations with 18-carat gold overage, which will become the company’s most expensive product, far exceeding the $4,000 that customers have to pay for the newest MacPro.

However, the marketing aspect of the “iWatch” will definitely turn out to be much more complex and difficult than any of the previous revolutionary products. The “iPod” was marketed as the way you can carry your favorite music in your pocket. The “iPhone” was a mobile Internet device with a unique sensor display, and the “iPad” was promoted as the easiest way of surfing online and viewing photos and videos on a much larger screen.

Apple’s critics argue that the company will have a really tough time reaching the forecasted “iWatch” sales because it will be really difficult for the company to prove the necessity of this new product. The main argument comes from the fact that the “iWatch” will not offer any new and unique features compared to the “iPhone” or the “iPad.”