More Analysts Agree: The Apple Watch Could Be The Company's 'Most Successful Product'

Cantor Fitzgerald made quite a statement about the Apple Watch last week. It appears other analysts agree.

So, does Apple Inc. AAPL have what it takes to change the smartwatch industry? Thus far, Motorola, SAMSUNG ELECT LTD SSNLF and other smartwatch manufacturers have failed to build a mainstream product.

Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry referred to these products as "launch and forget" devices. They receive a ton of hype at launch, but people quickly forget about them and move on.

"Apple doesn't have the mindset of 'launch and forget,'" Chowdhry told Benzinga. "[The] iPhone 6 was launched in September -- four months later we still talk about it." Chowdhry estimated that the Apple Watch will be Apple's "most successful product.

"[It] will break all the previous records," Chowdhry said confidently. "Why are we so convinced? We have attended numerous WatchKit hackathons. We have seen the potential of WatchKit and the Apple Watch platform. We have seen where the competition got it completely wrong."

Related Link: Will Apple's Watch Outsell The Mac?

Understated Assault

IHS Technology IHS senior analyst Daniel Gleeson expects Apple to produce a "relatively conservative" number of Apple Watches at launch. "That's always been their play -- to undersell at the start and see where it goes," Gleeson told Benzinga.

"If you look at iPod or iPhone, that's been the way they do business."

The comparisons might end there, however. "In terms of the different price points, I think that will show you that Apple sees the Apple Watch as a very distinct category," said Gleeson. "And a very distinct product from anything else they do. [A product] that doesn't follow the same rules as phones or tablets or PCs."

Apple is applying a pricing structure akin to that of high-end watches -- not electronics. "That points to how Apple sees the Apple Watch more than anything else," Gleeson added.

100 Applications

Chowdhry referred to the Apple Watch as the "most highly anticipated product of 2015." He said that he expects the average user to download and use 100 different apps. This compares favorably to the 64 apps downloaded by the average iPhone user.

"With those applications you are basically getting 100 Android devices for $350," said Chowdhry.

"That is the right way to think about it, rather than, 'it's a watch.'" Case in point: before the iPhone, what was the killer app for cellular device users? Ringtones.

"How stupid is that?" Chowdhry questioned. He said that's the reason why he argues against the critics who say no one will buy an Apple Watch for $350.

"They have zero insight," he added.

Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report.