Those looking forward to Apple introducing a brand new wrist-based form factor in the iWatch may have to wait until next year.
That's according to the latest report from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has maintained for some time that Apple has struggled with production issues surrounding its new smartwatch.
"We reiterate our view that iWatch, as compared to existing products, and as Apple's (US) first attempt at a wearable device, represents a much higher level of difficulty for the company as regards component and system design, manufacturing and integration between hardware and software," says Kuo.
Those difficulties apparently involve the iWatch's small form factor, as well as what Kuo believes will be a flexible AMOLED display - completely new territory for a smartwatch. Add in the fact that the iWatch will require a lot more attention to water proofing than anything else in the Apple range.
Then there's those persistent reports that Apple will utilise sapphire glass for the iWatch display, which is much tougher (and of course flexible) than the kind of toughened glass used in smartphones, but also a lot more difficult to produce.
All of this is why Kuo concludes that "While we are positive on iWatch and believe that the advantages of the design and business model behind it are difficult to copy, we think, given the aforementioned challenges, that the launch could be postponed to 2015."
Of course, that doesn't mean that Apple won't unveil the iWatch at an October event, as many have predicted. It would just mean that the company couldn't follow up that reveal with an immediate release, as it likes to do with established form factors like the iPhone and iPad.
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Via: MacRumours