Some Apple Watch Buyers to Get Shipments Sooner Than Expected

Some Apple Watch buyers who thought they would have to wait until June to receive their new gadgets will get them sooner, Apple Inc said on Wednesday.

When online pre-orders for Apple's first smartwatch started on April 10, many customers were surprised to see delivery times as far out as June instead of on April 24, when the devices officially go on sale.

On Wednesday, Apple notified some buyers that they would not have to wait so long after all.

"Our team is working to fill orders as quickly as possible based on the available supply and the order in which they were received," Apple said in a statement.

An Apple spokesman declined to say how soon the company would ship the watches or how many customers would be affected.

The Cupertino, California company previously predicted that demand would exceed supply at product launch. It has not said how many watches its customers have pre-ordered.

In a note to clients on Wednesday, FDR analyst Daniel Ives estimated Apple would take over 2 million pre-orders for the watch and ship 20 million of them in 2015.

"The longer-term consumer adoption curve for the Apple Watch remains a major 'hot button' question among tech investors as broad customer feedback is yet to be seen," Ives wrote.

© Thomson Reuters 2015