Published in IoT

Apple Watch 2 may feature up to a 40 percent thinner design

by on11 April 2016


To be unveiled at WWDC on June 13th


New information from Apple analysts about the upcoming second-generation Apple Watch are suggesting that the company is planning to introduce a completely redesigned version of the device as early as June, while the product itself may be showcased at WWDC 2016.

The news comes from Apple analyst Brian White, who recently toured a few companies within Apple’s supply chain and overheard discussions about a possible second-gen Watch reveal at WWDC 2016.

“Our meeting with a tech supply chain company highlighted a rough end to 2015 with significant forecast reductions from Apple; however, forecasts have been stable since then with 2Q:16 expected to be the trough,” said White in a pair of research notes released Friday. “After a YoY sales decline in 1Q:16, our contact expects to return to growth in H2:2016. Production of parts of the iPhone 7 are expected to begin in July.”

“Finally, we walked away with the sense that the Apple Watch refresh will not occur in September with the iPhone 7, but is more likely to occur within the next 2-3 months, and thus we believe an unveiling at WWDC in June makes sense,” said White. We believe Apple Watch 2 could be 20-40% thinner than the current Apple Watch.”

Aside from a projected 20 to 40 percent thinner profile than its predecessor, other rumors include the addition of a GPS receiver, a FaceTime camera and significantly improved battery life.

On a separate note, we would personally like to see an improvement in charging time with the newer device. For reference, the first-generation Apple Watch charges to 80 percent in an hour and half, and to 100 percent in two and a half hours.

Apple will be holding its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote address on Monday, June 13, 2016 in San Francisco, California. Later in the fall, most likely around September, the company will announce its tenth-generation iPhone lineup including the iPhone 7 and rumored iPhone Pro.
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Back in January, we wrote that Apple’s upstream supply chain was preparing to enter volume production of a second-generation Watch in Q2 2016. Sources currently claim that Quanta Computer, rather than Foxconn, will be the sole manufacturer of the device. The manufacturing switch is a result of weaker-than-expected sales numbers for Apple’s first-generation device.

The company will announce its Q2 2016 earnings results on Monday, April 25 at 2:00pm Pacific, at which point we hope to see sales numbers for the first-generation Watch. The company did not announce sales numbers during its previous Q1 2016 earnings call.

That was not a matter of not being transparent, it was a matter of not giving our competition insight — that's a product that we've worked really hard on, Apple CEO Tim Cook said during an earnings call in July 2015 when asked why Apple didn’t reveal Apple Watch sales numbers during the device’s first quarter on sale.

Last modified on 11 April 2016
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