Apple has confirmed the Apple Watch will go on sale in Italy, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and Taiwan on 26 June
Apple has confirmed that its wearable device, the Apple Watch, will be gracing the wrists of punters in Italy, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and Taiwan from Friday 26 June.
The Apple Watch is currently available in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the UK and the US.
On 26 June the device will be available in Italy, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and Taiwan from the Apple Online Store and select Apple Authorised Resellers.
Apple said that 10 Corso Como in Milan, BOONTHESHOP Cheongdam in Seoul and Malmaison by The Hour Glass in Singapore will have a curated selection of Apple Watches available at launch.
The new watch is available in two sizes (38mm and 42mm) and across three editions: Apple Watch Sport (US$349 to US$399); Apple Watch (US$599 to US$1,099, and the Apple Watch Edition (from US$10,000).
Apps developers in the countries where the watch will become available have already been busy.
Apple Watch wearers can now order a taxi in Spain with MyTaxi; easily navigate the airport with the Genève Aéroport app; keep track of a Singapore Airlines flight; explore Italy with AroundMe; stay in touch with friends in South Korea with KakaoTalk, find the nearby YouBike station in Taiwan and access movie tickets with Cinepolis in Mexico.
“The response to Apple Watch has surpassed our expectations in every way, and we are thrilled to bring it to more customers around the world,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s senior vice president of operations.
“We’re also making great progress with the backlog of Apple Watch orders, and we thank our customers for their patience. All orders placed through May, with the sole exception of Apple Watch 42mm Space Black Stainless Steel with Space Black Link Bracelet, will ship to customers within two weeks. At that time, we’ll also begin selling some models in our Apple Retail Stores.”
No sleight of hand for the wearables vendors
Other device manufacturers will find themselves being compared fairly or unfairly to Apple’s iconic device
According to research from IDC, the wearable computing device market saw its eighth consecutive quarter of growth in the first quarter of 2015.
Vendors shipped a total of 11.4m wearables during the quarter, up 200pc on the previous year.
“What remains to be seen is how Apple’s arrival will change the landscape,” said Ramon Llamas.
“The Apple Watch will likely become the device that other wearables will be measured against, fairly or not. This will force the competition to up their game in order to stay on the leading edge of the market.”
