A new report from 9to5Mac reveals that the Apple Watch may be launching later than originally anticipated. In a video message to retail employees, Apple’s Senior VP of Retail and Online Stores Angela Ahrendts stated that “we’re going into the holidays, we’ll go into Chinese New Year, and then we’ve got a new watch launch coming in the spring.” Although Apple only publicly specified “early 2015” as a timeframe for the Apple Watch launch, some sources had earlier suggested that the company was aiming for a Valentine’s Day release. However, with Chinese New Year occurring on February 19th, it appears as though Apple will in the very least miss Valentine’s Day, and Ahrendts’ “coming in the spring” statement suggests that the release is more likely to be even later than that—the end of March at the earliest.
While it’s unclear whether this actually represents a delay from Apple’s original target date, sources have told 9to5Mac that Apple is “still working out kinks” in relation to battery performance, in an effort to boost recharging times. Reports last year had also suggested that Apple originally planned to ship the Watch this fall, but that it was delayed due to engineering problems. For its part, Apple’s official Apple Watch page still says “Coming Early 2015,” although there’s obviously room for debate as to what timeframe “early 2015” actually represents.
