The highly anticipated Apple Watch, which has had a mysterious official launch date, is finally going to be released in April.
Tim Cook revealed the timing of the release of the Apple Watch during a conference call with analysts, clarifying the exact month of the device's launch, which Apple previously said would be in "early 2015."
"Development for Apple Watch is right on schedule," said Cook. "We're going to be thrilled to start shipping it because we have a lot of customers wanting to get one," he said, referring to the company's first new product since the iPad.
Apple is entering the smartwatch industry a little late, as it did with the iPhone and the iPad in the smartphone and tablet computer industries, but it is looking to define the segment with the Apple Watch. Rival companies have launched smartwatches over the past several months, but the devices have not taken off in the market.
The Apple Watch was unveiled in September last year, with the company revealing that the price of the device would begin at $349. While the basic functions of the device are now known, there are still many questions surrounding the device, such as the cost of high-end models and whether the Apple Watch would have a "killer app" that could drastically boost the device's sales.
Apple news website 9to5 Mac acquired information regarding the Apple Watch Edition, the more expensive model that will include gold. The website claims that Apple's official stores will be outfitted with safes such as in jewelry stores to house the devices.
The safes, which will likely be utilized to hold inventory for sale as well as to safeguard demo units, will include the MagSafe chargers for the Apple Watch to keep the held units fully charged.
The news website also claims that Apple has already started the installation of the safes in certain stores ahead of the device's launch date.
Previous reports said that the price of the gold-plated Apple Watch Edition could reach thousands of dollars.
Ben Reitzes, an analyst for Barclays, believes that the launch of the smartwatch seems to be a bit delayed, but Cook's statement that April still qualifies as early 2015 is sufficient.
Cook said that he has been trying out the Apple Watch daily, adding that he "can't live without it." The Apple CEO also said that there is an "impressive" number of developers working on apps for the Apple Watch.
