Apple Watch ‘will dominate’ smartwatch market

APPLE gave Samsung, Motorola and the rest a huge headstart but a new report shows how quickly it will win the smartwatch war.

APPLE is set to leapfrog all other smartwatch makers and become the dominant smartwatch company within months of releasing the Apple Watch, a new report shows.

Research released today by Strategy Analytics predicts the Apple Watch will ship 15 million units this year and claim 55 per cent of the global marketshare.

Strategy Analytics director Cliff Raskind predicts the smartwatch market will boom this year on the back of the Apple Watch release in April, with the global shipments growing 511 per cent this year.

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The report predicts that Apple will ship 15.4 million units this year while the rest of the smartwatch makers, including Samsung, Pebble, LG, Motorola and Sony, will have a combined total of 12.7 million units.

Outsmarting the opposition ... An Apple Watch. Pic: Supplied

Strategy Analytics executive director Neil Mawston said in the report: “The Apple Watch is the catalyst to ignite the global smartwatch market. Apple’s famous brand, loyal fan base, deep retail presence and extensive apps ecosystem will ensure healthy uptake for its Watch.”

Aside from the power of Apple’s marketing, one of the major forces researchers have identified in the expected success of the Apple Watch is the huge number of apps people will be able to run on their watch from launch day.

Global Equities Research predicts Apple will have about 100,000 apps in the Apple Watch app store when the smartwatch is released.

Apple has announced an event on Wednesday next week at which it is expected to announce the release date and Australian pricing of the Apple Watch.