How will the Apple Watch succeed where Android Wear has struggled?

The Apple Watch is set to hit the market in April, at a time when the smartwatch market appears to be largely up for grabs.

Canalys released a report today that claimed manufacturers shipped just 720,000 devices featuring Google’s smartwatch OS Android Wear in 2014. For context, 4.6 million total smartwatches and bands shipped last year, and mobile market newcomer Pebble shipped more than 1 million units from its 2013 launch through 2014, according to Canalys.

Meanwhile, J.P. Morgan Chase wireless analyst Rod Hall recently upped his target for Apple stock price to $ 145 from $ 140 based on optimism for the Apple Watch, according to this Barron’s blog post. That excitement is based on the expectation that 5% of 525 million projected iPhone users will buy the Apple Watch this year, resulting in more than 26 million shipments. Hall was even bold enough to extend this prediction into 2016, when he sees 13% of iPhone customers buying the Apple Watch, good for more than 55 million units.

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Network World Colin Neagle