Apple Watch 2 May Enter Trial Production By The End Of January

Apple’s second run at a smartwatch could start sooner than expected. The Apple Watch 2 is anticipated to go into trial production by the end of January, according to a report from Taiwan’s Commercial Times.

Quanta, manufacturer of the previous Apple Watch, is expected to handle production of the device for a second time around. However, due to lower-than-expected profit margins on the watch, Apple may also be looking at additional suppliers to handle the manufacturing of its smartwatch, such as Foxconn, Inventec and Wistron, according to a November Digitimes report.

Analysis firm IHS estimates the watch costs $83.70 to manufacture; the lowest-priced watch retails for $349.

Apple hasn’t disclosed any specific about how many Apple Watches it has sold since its debut in April and has said in the past that it doesn’t plan to reveal that data anytime soon, citing “competitive reasons.”

Not a whole lot is known about the features of the Apple Watch 2. But several rumors have pointed to features such as a FaceTime camera, improved processor and possibly a similar display. At the same time, Apple since November has also several job listings related to the biomedical field and health-related sensors, suggesting Apple may be working on additional health features for its smartwatch or perhaps another product, according to Buzzfeed News.

While Apple hasn’t officially said a word about its second generation smartwatch, it is expected to debut the Apple Watch 2 sometime in March, according to 9to5Mac. Apple is also anticipated to unveil a four-inch iPhone, which could either be called the “iPhone 6C” or “iPhone 5E,” according to MacRumors. The smaller handset may come with a number of features such as Apple Pay, a metal case design and 1GB of memory. But it’s not expected to come with some of the latest iPhone features, such as the pressure sensitive 3D Touch display found in the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus.