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Apple Watch May Gain Additional Casing Material Options Later This Year

Wednesday March 11, 2015 8:18 am PDT by Mitchel Broussard
Gold Apple WatchKGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a good track record in providing information on yet-to-be released Apple products, today released a report predicting that up to three new casing options for the Apple Watch will launch sometime this fall.

Kuo points out that the Apple Watch's sale momentum could stall entering the fourth quarter of the year, and thinks the release of new casing options for the device could reinvigorate it heading into the 2015 holiday shopping season.

Rumors stating that Apple was looking into a platinum casing for the Watch right before the "Spring Forward" event could point toward the option becoming available down the road.
Aside from current casing materials of aluminum, stainless steel and 18k gold, we believe 1-3 new versions of Apple Watch featuring new casing materials are likely to go into mass production in 4Q15. If this is the case, we think it could boost Apple Watch shipments momentum in 4Q15-1Q16.
Though impressed by the "outstanding designs" of the Apple Watch and new MacBook, Kuo sees the Watch underselling the market expectation of 20-30 million units in 2015 to about 15-20 million devices sold throughout the year. The analyst sees the Watch selling between 5-6 million units in the first half of the year, and the new MacBook about 450,000 units in that same time frame.

Kuo notes that as with many first-generation products, the Apple Watch will "focus on verifying whether the user behavior and business model are right", with subsequent generations honing in and expanding on the device's features and adding new ones, as well. As a result, he expects shipments to "grow significantly" in these second or third-generation Apple Watches in comparison to his predicted numbers for the first-generation model.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 5
Tags: KGI Securities, Ming-Chi Kuo
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)
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Top Rated Comments

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Reason077
53 months ago
24 karat Unicorn horn or I'm going home.
Rating: 39 Votes
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Mac Fly (film)
53 months ago
MacRumors user response to any article: 'grumble grumble grumble grumble'
Rating: 24 Votes
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mangomind
53 months ago
Hopefully it's not the plastic Apple Watch C!!!!
Rating: 18 Votes
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Faelan
53 months ago
I'm hoping for an unobtanium case...
Rating: 17 Votes
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Z400Racer37
53 months ago
Make mine LiquidMetal please! :cool:
Rating: 14 Votes
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andrea81
53 months ago
Adamantium would be pretty scratch-free I guess.
Rating: 12 Votes
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xraydoc
53 months ago
Platinum. Great. Something even more expensive than the $17,000 smart watch.

Jony Ive has gone off his rocker.
Rating: 10 Votes
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testcard
53 months ago
I'd like to see a tough resin case, similar to the material used in Casio's watches.
Rating: 5 Votes
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BigHonkingDeal
53 months ago

Soylent Green!



Unobtainium
Rating: 4 Votes
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kdarling
53 months ago

I didn't even think about this, but it is probably going to happen at some point. Multiple Watch colors (in plastic) would definitely appeal to children.


That screen full of little round icons already looks a little Playskool to me.

As for plastic and kids... well, the iPhone had the iPod. So why shouldn't the Watch have a limited no-phone-needed version, too?

Plastic, no pulse sensor, no Apple Pay. Just apps brought down via WiFi, either standalone, or more likely, linked to the family's iPad.
Rating: 4 Votes

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