When I see stories like this, the first thing that occurs to me is that there *has* to be at least one Apple employee who's sole job is to read and analyze all the "rumor" sites, news articles, blogs and social media. I'd guess there is a pretty robust process for gathering such intelligence, but someone has to decide what it all means. Apple is rumored to use the "Canary Trap" technique for discovering sources of leaks, but I'd guess they also have a process to release information via "leaks" to suit specific purposes.
Is a rumor that watches will initially be scarce good or bad? Dunno. If this was about the Edition, I might think it planted. Exclusive, select, and...really hard to make.
I also think that while Apple knows precisely how the production process will function. But making *millions* of anything is a huge task.
What this means, if true, is that Apple has a much higher quality requirement than all the junk knockoffs coming out of China. I see it as a positive article. If Quanta can't make them, then Apple needs to find a different manufacturing company who can deal with small items. Simple as that.
I see an ad campaign here ... "It's the parts that Apple rejects that make ?Watch the best"
As it is, anybody that has been involved in manufacturing anything know that there is a ramp up period. This ramp up can be of considerable length. This has been my experience anyways with a number of different production line start ups.
I also suspect Tim has taken all possible road blocks, barring the far east dropping off the planet, into account.
Come on...really? Please publish facts. I am sick of the rumors. Most are not true. You are shattering your credibility by publishing this garbage. All for the clicks right?
Umm... last I knew AI is an Apple news and _rumor_ site. Also, the story's headline is prefaced with "Rumor:" so you know what it is.
Maybe you would prefer to read MacWorld or some other non-rumor site.
I find the story to be worthwhile for what it is - a rumor about production yields. They've happened before; it is not unlikely they could be happening again with this very new product. As wizard69 said, when you ramp up to full-scale production, things happen.
Umm... last I knew AI is an Apple news and _rumor_ site. Also, the story's headline is prefaced with "Rumor:" so you know what it is.
Maybe you would prefer to read MacWorld or some other non-rumor site.
I find the story to be worthwhile for what it is - a rumor about production yields. They've happened before; it is not unlikely they could be happening again with this very new product. As wizard69 said, when you ramp up to full-scale production, things happen.
Exactly... these manufacturing rumors are like clock work(hey a pun!) when Apple has a new product coming out.
I am amazed that so many people don't get this, and have posted "why post this". It's probably a rumour started by competitors like Samsung or other people with vested interests and will no doubt hit the ''tech" sections of the popular press soon and Appleinsider is just giving readers a heads up. I mean ferchrissakes they state right up front it's highly dubious and they give their reasons for that.
Manufacturing the plastic-backed flexible OLED panels is a vastly different process than the one used for glass-backed panels, the report says, requiring new methods of pulling a vacuum between the panel and the substrate. Traditional water jet vacuum pumps are said to be unsuitable, causing humidity issues.
That's why you'd use a dry pump, like they've been using in the semiconductor industry for, oh, ages (at least 20 years). That's not exactly a difficult problem to solve.
Am I the only one that thinks this might be an informative rumor? There's probably at least some truth to it, as I'm sure there are significant challenges that Apple is facing to build such a high quality product.
But, most importantly, if people are aware that there are real manufacturing challenges, then dolts in the media are less likely to have credibility when trying to spread FUD about Apple creating artificial scarcity.
We've all heard it before, for instance with every iPhone launch. No matter how many record shattering iPhones are sold, there's always some genius in the media saying that it's not that successful, because Apple is holding back production to make it look successful, or something.
To be perfectly honest, this doesn't matter even if it's true.
IMO, the Apple watch is likely going to follow a trajectory similar to iPad sales. First, it'll vastly outsell all the previous smart watches to date (just like the iPad did). Then, when the novelty wears off a bit, people who want one have already bought one, sales will level off and decline (just like the iPad sales are now). And finally, when the 'killer apps' emerge, sales of both will go back up. For the iPad, I'm thinking the partnership between IBM and Apple will lead to widespread adoption of the iPad in retail and be a major driver or sales in the years to come. For the watch, the battery life and health focus will need time to mature. But one day, the watch will be able to monitor your heartbeat, call 911 for you if you have a heart attack or arrhythmia, and give the EMT team your precise location and vitals before they even arrive. One day, these things will literally be saving people's lives...and when that day arrives you can bet that everyone will want one.
The media is making it sounds like if the iWatch doesn't sell 40 million in it's first year it'll be a flop. One thing you can tell about Cook and the rest of the team at Apple is that they think long-term.
This is just more desperate propaganda planted by Apple's competitors. It's so pathetic that they resort to this crap. It's so far below any sense of "fair play" or any concept of simply rolling up their sleeves and doing what's necessary to come up with an honest product that's as least as good as the ?Watch.
I'm of the mind Apple is spreading this rumor to build a feeding frenzy for the "scarce" few watches... "Better hurry, they can't make them fast enough."
"Be the first douchbag on your block to sport the gold watch!" Hurry, Hurry! Step right up. Only one per customer!"
This is an odd sort of story indeed. And, it would seem Apple would certainly have a chunk of product all ready to deliver to stores. But the public reaction, if you can call it that, to the aWatch, has been little more than a yawn. Why? The number of watches "sold" in the court of public opinion is in the thousands not millions. Nothing the gear offers is needed. Everything about it is a luxury item. NOTHING about the Apple watch, at the moment, is a necessity...remembering Apple starts a product at minimum and adds features year after year....making the current model "our best ever".
You could have said that about the iPhone and iPad.
The Reader's Digest version, and I quote.... "An extraordinarily dubious rumor from China suggests that while dramatic, this is a highly unlikely scenario. The rumored assembly problems are even more farfetched."
This is just more desperate propaganda planted by Apple's competitors. It's so pathetic that they resort to this crap. It's so far below any sense of "fair play" or any concept of simply rolling up their sleeves and doing what's necessary to come up with an honest product that's as least as good as the ?Watch.
That's the way Apple's competitors, or should I say prey, as they're not really competitors anymore, seem to structure their survival techniques of late, because they can't innovate anything worth a damn anymore, unless it's Apple's R&D department doing it for them.
AI is getting to the point of reporting any nonsense rumor if they find out a butterfly was flapping its wings in Japan to. Just hustling for those ad hits. It's really going downhill.
Some rumors are malicious, anti-Apple fabrications, intended to disparage the company's public image, and in some cases to (temporarily) drive down stock prices for exploitation by speculators. Unscrupulous competitors may also resort to such tactics: if you can't compete, undermine.
Comments
When I see stories like this, the first thing that occurs to me is that there *has* to be at least one Apple employee who's sole job is to read and analyze all the "rumor" sites, news articles, blogs and social media. I'd guess there is a pretty robust process for gathering such intelligence, but someone has to decide what it all means. Apple is rumored to use the "Canary Trap" technique for discovering sources of leaks, but I'd guess they also have a process to release information via "leaks" to suit specific purposes.
Is a rumor that watches will initially be scarce good or bad? Dunno. If this was about the Edition, I might think it planted. Exclusive, select, and...really hard to make.
I also think that while Apple knows precisely how the production process will function. But making *millions* of anything is a huge task.
I see an ad campaign here ... "It's the parts that Apple rejects that make ?Watch the best"
I also suspect Tim has taken all possible road blocks, barring the far east dropping off the planet, into account.
Has there ever been an Apple product where "production" problems were not part of the rumor cycle?
It's been "boy who cried wolf" for so long now that I'm surprised it still makes the news cycle.
Come on...really? Please publish facts. I am sick of the rumors. Most are not true. You are shattering your credibility by publishing this garbage. All for the clicks right?
Umm... last I knew AI is an Apple news and _rumor_ site. Also, the story's headline is prefaced with "Rumor:" so you know what it is.
Maybe you would prefer to read MacWorld or some other non-rumor site.
I find the story to be worthwhile for what it is - a rumor about production yields. They've happened before; it is not unlikely they could be happening again with this very new product. As wizard69 said, when you ramp up to full-scale production, things happen.
But making *millions* of anything is a huge task.
As some may say ---Tru-dat! It is staggering when one thinks about it.
For this watch, I wonder how many individual components Apple has to source and assemble?
A million or more per month ??? geesh.
Case
Crystal
Display
Digital Crown assembly
Select Button
SoC
Haptic engine assembly(and its parts)
Battery
Seals
Any screws (proprietary of course) or will it be 'glued'(kidding... well)
Bands
What else?
The teardown will be interesting.
Umm... last I knew AI is an Apple news and _rumor_ site. Also, the story's headline is prefaced with "Rumor:" so you know what it is.
Maybe you would prefer to read MacWorld or some other non-rumor site.
I find the story to be worthwhile for what it is - a rumor about production yields. They've happened before; it is not unlikely they could be happening again with this very new product. As wizard69 said, when you ramp up to full-scale production, things happen.
Exactly... these manufacturing rumors are like clock work(hey a pun!) when Apple has a new product coming out.
Manufacturing the plastic-backed flexible OLED panels is a vastly different process than the one used for glass-backed panels, the report says, requiring new methods of pulling a vacuum between the panel and the substrate. Traditional water jet vacuum pumps are said to be unsuitable, causing humidity issues.
That's why you'd use a dry pump, like they've been using in the semiconductor industry for, oh, ages (at least 20 years). That's not exactly a difficult problem to solve.
This whole article sounds like horseshit.
Am I the only one that thinks this might be an informative rumor? There's probably at least some truth to it, as I'm sure there are significant challenges that Apple is facing to build such a high quality product.
But, most importantly, if people are aware that there are real manufacturing challenges, then dolts in the media are less likely to have credibility when trying to spread FUD about Apple creating artificial scarcity.
We've all heard it before, for instance with every iPhone launch. No matter how many record shattering iPhones are sold, there's always some genius in the media saying that it's not that successful, because Apple is holding back production to make it look successful, or something.
IMO, the Apple watch is likely going to follow a trajectory similar to iPad sales. First, it'll vastly outsell all the previous smart watches to date (just like the iPad did). Then, when the novelty wears off a bit, people who want one have already bought one, sales will level off and decline (just like the iPad sales are now). And finally, when the 'killer apps' emerge, sales of both will go back up. For the iPad, I'm thinking the partnership between IBM and Apple will lead to widespread adoption of the iPad in retail and be a major driver or sales in the years to come. For the watch, the battery life and health focus will need time to mature. But one day, the watch will be able to monitor your heartbeat, call 911 for you if you have a heart attack or arrhythmia, and give the EMT team your precise location and vitals before they even arrive. One day, these things will literally be saving people's lives...and when that day arrives you can bet that everyone will want one.
The media is making it sounds like if the iWatch doesn't sell 40 million in it's first year it'll be a flop. One thing you can tell about Cook and the rest of the team at Apple is that they think long-term.
I'm of the mind Apple is spreading this rumor to build a feeding frenzy for the "scarce" few watches... "Better hurry, they can't make them fast enough."
"Be the first douchbag on your block to sport the gold watch!" Hurry, Hurry! Step right up. Only one per customer!"
I see an ad campaign here ... "It's the parts that Apple rejects that make ?Watch the best"
No, it's the parts that Apple rejects that make every other watch.
"An extraordinarily dubious rumor from China suggests that while dramatic, this is a highly unlikely scenario. The rumored assembly problems are even more farfetched."
If this rumor were true, Apple would push back the release.
Enough said to know this is complete and utter BULLSHIT, especially with the launch and pre-order this close!
Wouldn't be surprised if this is Scamsung, or perhaps even Xiaomi.
That's the way Apple's competitors, or should I say prey, as they're not really competitors anymore, seem to structure their survival techniques of late, because they can't innovate anything worth a damn anymore, unless it's Apple's R&D department doing it for them.
Why even publish this.
AI is getting to the point of reporting any nonsense rumor if they find out a butterfly was flapping its wings in Japan to. Just hustling for those ad hits. It's really going downhill.