The pressure is on for Apple (AAPL 0.87%) to raise the bar in 2013, and it may have to do more than simply put out the widely anticipated full-blown HDTV. The time may be right for Apple to begin telling you what time it is.
Rumors of an Apple wristwatch are starting to make the rounds again.
Apple watcher iMore is picking up on a story from an Asian forum, suggesting that a smart watch is in the works.
Despite the specific details calling for Bluetooth connectivity and an 1.5-inch OLED screen, this is clearly little more than speculative chatter at this point. Right now it would seem as if Apple's merely taking the 2010 generation of its iPod nano with its square 1.55-inch screen and just slapping a wristband around it.
A watch -- even a smart watch -- would seem to be a gutsy call. Aren't fewer kids wearing watches these days because their smarpthones already show the time and date?
Then again, there's clearly a market for fashionable watches. Analysts see Fossil (FOSL -3.17%) growing its revenue at a double-digit clip in 2012 and again in 2013.
Apple may also be raising the bar on wellness given the success this year of Nike's (NKE 1.15%) FuelBand and the recently updated Jawbone Up. If Apple could put out a wristwatch that also monitors activity -- or perhaps even introduces a small camera for futuristic FaceTime -- don't you think that plenty of diehard Apple fans would turn out for that?
Sure. Nike has been a productive partner in pairing up its footwear and FuelBand with Apple gadgets, but at the end of the day Apple is on its own.
The rub here is that Apple can't afford a flop. Its stock has taken a hit in recent weeks. A smart television seems like a safe bet, but an Apple smart watch -- or iWatch, if you will -- may be a bit much even for fans of the world's most valuable tech company.
Either way, the clock is ticking on Apple. That never stops.
