Let the Apple Watch guesstimating begin.
Analysts have begun predicting how many watches Apple will sell as the wearable’s April release date nears. In a report published yesterday, CCS Insight forecast that Apple will sell 20 million watches by the year’s end. Although that analysis assumes that just 7 percent of people who own iPhones compatible with the Apple Watch will take the plunge, that adoption rate would be enough to put Apple at the top of the nascent smartwatch market, the research firm wrote.
“This highly anticipated smartwatch will create a frenzy of demand, catapulting it almost instantaneously to be the most successful smartwatch ever,” the report reads. “The current love affair affluent US consumers have with the iPhone guarantees a strong start for the Apple Watch in its home market.”
By selling 20 million watches, Apple would account for about a quarter of the wearable market in 2015, according to CCI Insight.
As USA Today notes, not all analysts expect consumers to snap up so many Apple Watches, with Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray predicting that the company will sell 8 million gadgets. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that the tech giant has asked its supplier to manufacture 5 to 6 million Apple Watches before the gadget’s debut.
The Apple Watch, the company’s first brand-new product since the iPad, will start at $349, though consumers will have to pay much more for flashy models made of gold and other precious minerals. The gadget will come in two sizes and three collections. Consumers must have an iPhone 5 or later to take advantage of most of the watch’s features.
Above: Analysts are split on how many smartwatches Apple will sell this year (Getty Images).
