Good News For An Apple Inc. (AAPL) iWatch?

Many people are skeptical of whether or not an Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iWatch has what it takes to succeed (see one opinion here). While there is no way of knowing how the market would receive this sort of device until it is actually made available, opinions are all over the place.

Canalys took a closer look at the market as a whole, showing that Apple may actually be in position to do big things in the near future.

In a recent report, here is what the research company had to say about the growth of the smart watch market:

“The worldwide smart watch market will exceed 5 million unit shipments in 2014 according to the latest Canalys forecasts. Canalys estimates that over 330,000 smart watches were shipped in 2012, led by Sony and Motorola. Kickstarter-backed Pebble Technology has joined Sony as a market leader in 2013; over 500,000 units will be shipped this year. Smart watches are then set to explode by the end of 2014, growing tenfold as a new generation of devices from Apple, Google, Microsoft, Samsung and others are launched.”

As you can see, Canalys has noted that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is one of the companies that will help the new generation of devices move forward. Just how much of a push comes from Cupertino is still up in the air at this point.

In the future, we can expect smart watches to be more advanced than what we see today. From more sophisticated software to sleek software, changes are going to be coming to the market in large numbers.

While the device itself will be a big deal, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is well aware that any smart watch will need to be powered by the appropriate software. Of course, this is not something the company has struggled with in the past. Here is more from Canalys Analyst James Wang:

“An effective smart watch won’t just be a second screen for a smart phone. Creating a competent developer platform specifically for the form factor will be an enormous challenge. Google and Microsoft must execute more successfully than they have done with their tablet platforms and will have to adapt their business models appropriately.”

There is no mention of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in that group, thanks to the fact that the company has proven itself capable of doing big things outside the smartphone market.