Bloomberg reports a team of 100 designers at Apple have been diligently creating the next big thing – a wristwatch-style digital device. Apple has filed 79 or more “wrist” patents, including a kinetic-powered device with a flexible screen. Apparently the watch would stay charged by your wrist activity like a self-winding watch.
The iWatch features – or whatever it will be called – would most likely include GPS location services, a pedometer like the Nike+ system, and plugin ability for monitoring heart rates and other health-related devices.
Oliver Chen, a luxury retail analyst at Citigroup Inc., says “This can be a US$6 billion opportunity for Apple, with plenty of opportunity for upside if they create something totally new like they did with the iPod—something consumers didn’t even know they needed.”
It’s said that Apple’s lead designer, Jony Ive, has many fancy watches and that he and his team have visited watch factories for research. It’s a big leap to imagine that Apple could do with the watch what they’ve done with music and books, but even a pinch of market share could be a big win for Apple.
What do you think? Could this be the next big thing for Apple?
