With iPhone 6 Release Date Delayed Until October, iWatch Could See Limited Availability - 50% Sapphire Displays and 50% Glass Displays

According to latest reports leaked from an internal Apple Store meeting, the iPhone 6 release date is set for Oct. 14, 2014 instead of September as reported earlier. Furthermore, Apple iWatch will be released in limited quantities in 2014.

An unnamed source stated that a senior official from Apple Store revealed the new release date in a meeting. Apart from the new release date set in October, Apple will also address the media in an event scheduled for Sept. 16. The official further added that October will be a busy month for Apple and its global retail stores, says MacRumors.

In the hindsight, September has been the rumoured iPhone 6 release date thus far. Nevertheless, there were conflicts in the exact release date in September. Also, Apple has always targeted a Friday release, whereas the new release date Oct. 14 falls on Tuesday. Another report pointed out earlier that the Cupertino-based company will release the next-generation iPhone and iOS 8 by the mid of September. This will be followed by Apple iWatch, OS X Yosemite, iPad Air 2, iPad Mini 3, iPad Pro and Macs in October. Apparently, the change in release date is attributed to high demand and in turn huge production effort causing the delay.

However, at this point there is no confirmation from Apple to corroborate if 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 will be launched alongside on the aforementioned release date. If reports are true, the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 phablet will hit the store shelves only towards the end of 2014 or early 2015.

Ming-Chi Kuo, the famed KGI Securities analyst said recently that the upcoming iWatch availability will be limited in 2014. Specifically, a limited 3 million smartwatches will be released towards the end of this year. Kuo's predictions on iWatch are based on supply chain checks made recently. However, the market predictions for iWatch stand at 5 million to 10 million units, according to MacRumors.

The analyst also pointed out that, issues pertaining to developing the iWatch screen/display in addition to sapphire crystal availability have slowed down the production process significantly. "We believe developing the hardware and OS of iWatch will be a much more difficult task than for Apple's existing products," Ming-Chi Kuo quoted.

As a matter of fact, the limited availability of sapphire crystal displays will force Apple to opt for glass displays for half of the planned iWatch units. Also, the expected iWatch launch date is set for October. However, the release would be divided between 2014 and 2015. As mentioned earlier, the iWatch will see a limited release in 2014 and the availability is expected to improve in the following year.

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