Apple hints at iWatch launch

Apple has given its biggest hint yet that it is planning to launch new products in the next six months.

 

Speaking during the company’s third quarter earnings call, the company’s chief financial officer Paul Oppenheimer said that the Apple is “on track to have a busy fall”.

Oppenheimer’s comments echoed those of chief executive officer Tim Cook. Cook wrote in the company’s earnings report that Apple is “laser-focused and working hard on some amazing new products that we will introduce in the fall and across 2014”.

Cook also claimed that the company would see long term growth from new products in both existing and new categories.

“I think we have lots of growth opportunities,” he said. “We’re working on some stuff that we are really proud of and we will see how it does.”

Some analysts have interpreted Cook’s comments as confirming that Apple will launch the iWatch in the coming months.

The existing products are likely to be the yearly updates to the iPhone and iPadranges.

Recent weeks have been full of speculation of whether Apple will release a new iPad mini or not.

There have been conflicting reports about whether Apple will be able to source Retina displays for the second generation of its 7.9-inch tablet.

Cook also made a special mention of the company’s work in the car industry. He said that the area is likely to be a key battleground in the near future.

“Having something in the automobile is very, very important. It is something that people love,” Cook said.

Securing exclusive deals with car manufacturers is a good way of locking in iPhone buyers and discouraging purchases of non-Apple phones.

Even a £7,000 car that comes with Apple-only connectivity is a pretty strong way of discouraging people to buy Android and Windows Phone 8 handsets.

Apple revealed that it sold over 31 million iPhones in the last 90 days. It did not provide a breakdown of which models sold what.

It also revealed that iPad sales slipped slightly compared to the same time last year.

However, the company said that recent statistic threw doubts on how much marketshare Android tablets had stolen from Apple.

While Android tablet shipments have rocketed in recent months, there are few solid sales figures for them.

Apple argued that the fact that 84 per cent of tablets used to surf the web are iPads suggest the vast majority of those shipments are gathering dust in warehouses and retailer’s shelves.