Will the Apple Watch Edition Deplete the World’s Gold?
It’s difficult to estimate how many units of the Apple Watch will be shipped this year since Apple has not yet been able to meet the early demand for the device but more optimistic observers have predicted that the luxury Edition model alone could soon be selling one million watches a month worldwide.
This would represent a $120 billion windfall for Apple when you figure in that some Apple Watch buyers would need to purchase a new iPhone in order to take advantage of all the device’s features. That’s great for Apple but not so great for the world’s supply of gold. According to Mining.com, those million watches per month could suck up 62.2 grams of gold each or 684 tons of gold over a year. That’s 30% of all the gold produced in the entire world!
Of course a million watches per month is a pretty high estimate with lower projections coming in at about 100,000 per month and the actual figure likely to fall somewhere in between.
Samsung Teams Up with Luxury Brands for New Smartwatch
The field for smart looking wearable devices keeps getting bigger as TAG Heuer has its first smartwatch coming this fall and tech companies like LG are making their products more stylish and less geeky. Not surprisingly, Samsung has plans to make its next smartwatch fashionable enough to compete with the trendy Apple Watch models.
According to the site SamMobile, Samsung will partner with artists and brands like Z Zenga, Tech21, Anymode and Swarovski to create and market the Gear A, a new smartwatch with a round face and the ability to make voice calls using 3G networks. Swarovski is known for its glitzy crystal accessories so the brand could be expected to produce some fancy bands for the new device.
Samsung is expected to give us the first look at the Gear A at Berlin’s IFA trade show in September.
