Apple apparently ramping up hiring for iWatch design, device could see late 2014 launch

Apple looks to be staffing up to build the iWatch.

Per The Mac Observer and the Financial Times, Apple is apparently hiring more employees for its wearable technology efforts to address issues that will likely push the rumored iWatch launch out to the end of 2014. Sources said Apple has been aggressively hiring new employees for its smartwatch project over the past few weeks, adding to its already growing pool of wearable tech engineers.

Sources close to the story said Apple went on the hunt for new talent to help overcome “hard engineering problems that they’ve not been able to solve.”

The idea that the iWatch won’t ship until later in 2014 has already cropped up thanks to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. He noted in May that the company needed to update iOS as well as the iPhone and iPad to take advantage of the iWatch’s features, and that required more people.

Kuo recently offered the following comment:

“Apple may not have adequate resources to develop an iWatch version of iOS because it may require big changes to iPhone and iPad iOS this year. For these reasons, we think mass production of the iWatch is more likely to begin in 2014, not 2013 as the market speculates.”

Adding to the notion that a smartwatch is coming, Apple recently filed for a trademark on the iWatch name in Japan and other countries. Company CEO Tim Cook has also said that Apple has some “amazing new hardware” to introduce throughout the rest of 2013 and 2014, leading to further speculation that the iWatch is on the way.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.