Apple Watch to debut on March 9, with China in the company's sights

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In September, Apple unveiled three watch collections - the basic model, the Sport model and the Edition model. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 12:30pm, 27 Feb 2015Updated: 12:10pm, 16 Apr 2015

Apple is due to enter China's hugely lucrative luxury watch market with the launch of the Apple Watch, which will debut at an event on March 9, the company announced this week.

While the US tech giant has remained characteristically tight-lipped about what exactly will be revealed at the San Francisco event, the basic model is expected to be priced at around US$350.

CEO Tim Cook also previously revealed that the device, the first brand new product for the company since Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad in 2010, will ship in April.

China is a key market for Apple. Revenue from Hong Kong, Taiwan and the mainland grew by 70 per cent in the most recent quarter from a year earlier, more than triple the growth rate in Europe and the Americas.

In October, supermodel Liu Wen appeared on the cover of Vogue China wearing the Apple Watch, one of the device's first major publicity campaigns, and one in which Apple's chief designer Jony Ive and Cook were intimately involved.

"[They] talked me through how they developed the concept of the Apple Watch from the beginning, I was impressed by their thoughts and passion for the project," Vogue China editor Angelica Cheung told Business of Fashion.

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