Apple is making a play in the luxury watch space with its exclusive yellow and rose-gold Apple Watch Edition that starts at US$10,000. If KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is correct with his latest prediction, the company is now looking to bring that gold finish to its much more inexpensive Apple Watch Sport (which starts at US$349). Rather than a solid 18K gold case though, the new model will use an anodised version of the standard aluminium case.
Like the Apple Watch Edition, it will be available in either yellow or rose gold. The former would match the currently available gold iPhone while the latter would be the ideal companion to the rumoured upcoming rose gold model (the upcoming iPhone 6S?) expected this fall.
The new gold-plated Apple Watch Sport would otherwise share the same identical specifications as the current Apple Watch and Apple Watch Edition models.
Apple is reportedly looking to the cheaper gold models to help boost Apple Watch sales. Despite estimating that Apple has now sold almost 4 million Apple Watches, Kuo describes sales as “tepid,” suggesting that Apple’s smartwatch is not meeting expectations (despite likely being one of the best-selling wearables this year).
It remains to be seen if Apple will also introduce other new colours and new materials at the same time to maintain consumer interest in the first generation Apple Watch while it continues to refine a follow-up Apple Watch 2 with new features expected sometime in early 2016.
Source : Business Insider