Apple unveiled its quarterly earnings report on Tuesday -- and the numbers were huge -- but in the follow-up conference call, CEO Tim Cook revealed another bit of much-awaited information.
The Apple Watch is "right on schedule," and Apple expects the device to begin shipping in April.
Tim Cook: "Development of Apple Watch is right on schedule and we expect to begin shipping in April." #AppleEarnings— Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) January 27, 2015
"My expectations are very high on it. I'm using it every day and love it and can't live without it," Cook said. The amount of developers writing apps for the wearable is "impressive," he said, and Apple is "seeing some incredible innovation."
Plenty of hype and rumors have surrounded Apple's wearable since it was announced in September. The device was previously rumored for a March launch. According to reports, the watch will not have stellar battery life: about 19 hours of "mixed use." (And as low as 2.5 hours of "active use," which basically means actually using the watch.)
Even if the Apple Watch happens to be a colossal failure, Apple will probably be OK.
Seriously, 74.5 MILLION phones . One quarter. Supply constrained. Insane.— Christina Warren (@film_girl) January 27, 2015
The company broke its record (by a good amount) for iPhone sales. In the December quarter, Apple sold 74.5 million iPhones, the first period that Apple began selling its latest 6 and 6 Plus models. Compare that to the now modest-seeming 51 million iPhone sales when Apple released the iPhone 5S last year.
The money Apple actually ended making shattered analysts' expectations. The company posted earnings of $18 billion on $74.6 billion of revenue.