Why doesn't Apple use an "iWatch"?

According to Reuters, Apple Inc. (hereinafter referred to as "Apple") released the industry's long-awaited smart watch Apple Watch on Tuesday, but surprisingly, Apple did not name this smart watch "iWatch" as usual.

Among Apple’s previous products, most of the names began with “i”, such as iPhone, iPad, iPod and iMac. However, at the new product launch conference on Tuesday, CEO Tim Cook released two products that began with “Apple” instead of “i”, namely the mobile payment platform Apple Pay and the smart watch Apple Watch.

For Apple, which has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on marketing and advertising, choosing "Apple" to name its new product is by no means a rash move. Some brand experts believe that Apple's move has two main purposes: Apple Watch is Apple's first new category product since 2010, and Apple hopes to highlight this product through naming; secondly, it sends a signal to the public that Apple is entering a new field.

In addition, some analysts believe that the naming of Apple Watch represents the positioning of this product. Apple Watch is an accessory and companion of iPhone, which needs to be connected to iPhone to perform some tasks, rather than a completely independent product.

Apple has not yet commented on this.

"The Apple Watch is an accessory to a whole range of products that will still start with 'i', and like other wearables, it's not a standalone product," said Robert Passikoff, president of Brand Keys, a New York-based brand research consultancy.

Still, the Apple Watch is likely to be a pivotal product for Apple and Cook.

Cook has been in the shadow of Jobs in recent years. The Apple Watch is the first new product he has launched since taking over as CEO. Before Tuesday's launch at the Flint Theater in Cupertino, California, Cook emphasized the theater's special significance to Apple. 30 years ago, Jobs launched the Macintosh computer here.

After entering the smartphone market in 2007 and the tablet market in 2010, Apple is now entering unfamiliar territory again. Research firm IDC predicts that global smartwatch sales will reach 42 million units in 2015, equivalent to iPhone sales in three months.

At present, the impact of Apple Watch on Apple's revenue is still unclear. But some analysts say that the launch of the smartwatch has at least restored some of Apple's reputation for product innovation. In the past few years, the iPhone update cycle has been relatively slow, usually releasing new products in the second half of each year, and releasing a completely new design iPhone every two years.

Ellen Leanse, Apple's former brand strategy executive, said: "We have entered a new era, and naming it 'iWatch' would give people an old-fashioned feeling. In addition, Apple Watch may become a product series like Macintosh."

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.