Apple (AAPL) has unveiled further details for the Apple Watch and a new MacBook laptop, which are set to launch in April. The wristworn wearable computer will cost between £299 and £13,500 in the UK, require an iPhone 5 or later to operate it, and can be used to answer phone calls, reply to emails and text messages, and make contactless payments. The new MacBook, meanwhile, weighs less than a kilogram and is thinner than the Macbook Air.
The Apple Watch should help the group tap into the lucrative fashion and high-end retail markets, and the higher-priced models bode well for Apple’s bottom line. But it risks alienating Apple fans and damaging the group's brand, which has been built around offering beautiful, luxury products to the masses; students and billionaires use the same iPhone.
Investors may by more interested in Apple's shareholder returns. Broker Susquehanna expects $80bn (£53.1bn) in share buybacks over the next two years to add $1.20 to EPS and forecasts that pre-tax profit will rise by a quarter to $66.73bn this year. This should see EPS advance 30 per cent to 8.37¢ (2014: $53.48bn and 6.45¢).
