SEPT. 9, 2014
After three years as chief executive of Apple, Timothy D. Cook is starting to crystallize his vision for the company.
Apple on Tuesday introduced a highly anticipated smartwatch, which combines health and fitness monitoring with mobile computer capabilities like maps. The company also introduced two iPhones with larger screens.
The smartwatch, named the Apple Watch, is a miniature computer strapped around the wrist and is the first product made under Mr. Cook’s leadership that branches Apple into a new type of product: a device in the growing field of fitness-tracking computers that can be worn on or around the body.
Although the Apple Watch is the company’s first wearable computer, it enters a crowded field. Samsung, Pebble and Sony lead the pack of companies producing these new devices, and sales are growing quickly. But the devices are nowhere near as popular as smartphones. IDC, the research company, estimates that 19 million smartwatches will ship in 2014, much lower than the 1.2 billion smartphones that it expects will ship this year.