Trip Chowdhry: Apple Watch Will Be 'Phenomenally Successful'

Speaking to Benzinga, Global Equities Research Managing Director of Equity Research Trip Chowdhry said that he did not expect a surprise at the Apple Inc. AAPL introduction of the Apple Watch. Research at Chowdhry's firm indicated that the new device would be "phenomenally successful" because of the its personal connection to the user unlike other wearables. Chowdhry reiterated that the Apple Watch is in a new device category but that a reaction in the stock following the Watch's introduction was not expected because everything is already known about the device. The stock could move later on if demand for the watch exceeded expectations, according to Chowdhry, and then the surprise would come when Apple experienced a production constraint rather than a supply constraint. Chowdhry did suggest, however, that questions remained around battery life and that heavy use could limit battery life to approximately 3 hours while in extended mode the battery may last 18 to 24 hours. Heading into the Watch release, Apple Inc traded at $127.46, up 0.68 percent. Kevin Riley and Brianna Valleskey contributed to this report.