Reasons Apple's watch will - or won't - change the game

SAN FRANCISCO -- No one can argue Apple has changed the way people live their lives. The company's iPod, iTunes, iPhone and iPad have shaken up music, phone and computer markets worldwide. Is the Apple Watch going to be able to do the same?

Here are three reasons the Apple Watch will finally move the needle in the smartwatch industry -- and three reasons it might not.

Why it will change things

More features: Along with email, texts and phone calls, Apple says its watch will present news, health readings and other notifications in creative ways that can be read at a glance. It will have a heart rate monitor and accelerometer and an internal motor that can signal the wearer with a subtle "tap" on the wrist. And Siri and Apple Pay will be built in.

Powerful brand: The world's biggest tech company has a reputation for quality and a direct conduit to customers -- it operates more than 400 retail stores around the world. And it has deep pockets to spend on advertising.

Apple's track record: This wouldn't be the first Apple product that revolutionized a market where rivals had struggled to break through. Other companies made digital music players before the iPod, smartphones before the iPhone and even tablets before the iPad. Most of those products failed to catch on until Apple made devices so appealing they set new standards and created new demand.

Or not ...

What's the need? Most smartwatches -- including Apple's -- only work with a smartphone nearby, so you can't swap one expensive gadget for the other.

Consumers not excited: You already can buy smartwatches made by giant tech companies like Samsung, Sony or LG, or from a tech startup like Pebble, that track your heart rate, show you email and deliver other online services to your wrist. None of them has caught on. Only about 5 million smartwatches were sold worldwide last year By comparison, Apple sold 74.6 million iPhones in just the last quarter.

Price and obsolescence: Many of today's smartwatches sell for $200 or less. Apple plans to sell three models, starting at $349, but Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster predicts the average buyer will pay $550 for a watch and extra, interchangeable bands. Cook will make his case for the Apple Watch at a press event today, where he's expected to show off more features and apps. Expectations are high.

But even the iPhone didn't become a mainstream blockbuster in its first year, noted Creative Strategies analyst Ben Bajarin. Of the Apple Watch, he says, "people need to understand more about what this product is, and what it does, and I think that will evolve over time."