The company is reportedly developing a new device to compete against Apple

Apr 17, 2013 02:31 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft seems to be fully prepared to take the fight against Apple to a completely new level, this time with a smart watch device that could see daylight later this year.

As we’ve already told you, the company is working on a 1.5-inch Windows device that would compete with Apple’s upcoming iWatch, even though it’s not yet clear if the company only wants to develop a prototype or start mass production of such a unit.

But as far as ABI Research is concerned, Microsoft should really do this, as more than 1.2 million smart watches are likely to be shipped this year. And Microsoft would clearly account for an important share.

“The strong potential emergence of smart watches can be attributed to several reasons,” says senior analyst Joshua Flood.

“Contributing factors include the high penetration of smartphones in many world markets, the wide availability and low cost of MEMS sensors, energy efficient connectivity technologies such as Bluetooth 4.0, and a flourishing app ecosystem.”