Apple expects to sell 5 million Apple Watch units as it prepares for blockbuster launch

The highly anticipated wearable product from Apple, the Apple Watch, is expected to be made available in April. The company has asked its manufacturing partners to supply 5 to 6 million units of the device in mixed variations for the first quarter.

According to a new report published by WSJ, it is believed that almost half of the 5 million units will be the entry-level Apple Watch Sports model and one-third of production will account for the mid-tier Apple Watch model.

The high-end Apple Watch Edition model that features 18-karat gold casing will be available in very limited supply initially however, the company is expected to ramp up production to about one million units every month in the second quarter.

Apple Watch Sports model will be priced at $349 however, price of other two models hasn’t been revealed yet. Apple Watch Edition is expected to be priced around $5000 or more. There have been rumours about Jony Ive and Angela Ahrendts working together to redesign Apple retail stores to showcase the Edition model.

I believe it is unprecedented in the watch industry for a luxury model to be assembled in China.

John Gruber of Daring Fireball earlier today published his thoughts on Apple Watch Edition model being assembled in China and said, “I have wondered, idly, whether Apple might assemble the Edition models in the U.S., like they do with Mac Pros, to further their prestige.” However, in order to manage the scale of one million units China may be the only option Apple has.

Apple Watch will be the first new product category that the company launched since the iPad in 2010. Apple sold about 7.5 million iPads in the first six months of its availability and it will be interesting to see if Apple Watch launch will be a blockbuster of Apple.

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