Five executives from Apple met last Wednesday with Mexico’s Federal Telecommunications Institute President Gabriel Contreras and other commissioners to “discuss advances in health-care devices”, according to an agenda published on the regulator’s website relayed yesterday by Bloomberg.
Not only does the meeting signal plans to make the Watch available internationally, but also highlights efforts to ensure the Watch’s ability to collect health data complies with local regulations.
Bloomberg has identified the Apple executives who met with the Mexican regulators as Afshad Mistri, a global health-care market manager, and Kalinda Raina, a senior manager for global privacy.
Neither the Mexican regulator nor Apple commented on the news.
Back in December 2013, Apple met with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about medical devices and last year with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to demonstrate the device and its health applications.
The Wall Street Journal earlier this week claimed the Watch won’t be the digital doctor it could have been because Apple scrapped a number of health-related functions from the first-gen model over stringent FDA requirements.
Starting at $349 for the base model (prices for other Watch editions are still unknown), the Apple Watch goes on sale in April.
Sources reported that the company ordered about six million Watches from its Taiwan-based supplier Quanta, commissioned to assemble the device.
According to J.P. Morgan, by the time the Watch launches it will have 400 million potential customers. The investment firm has projected that five percent of compatible iPhone owners could potentially buy the device before the end of 2015.
The wrist-worn Watch isn’t a standalone device and requires an iPhone for GPS and Wi-Fi, limiting its appeal to the Apple faithful.
Source: Bloomberg