3 good reasons not to buy the Apple Watch

It’s sleek, it’s light, it’ll make it easy to stay connected to friends, family and work and to track your daily activity. Heck, it even comes in 18-karat gold. But despite its array of attributes, some analysts say most people shouldn’t buy the Apple Watch when it hits the market.

On Tuesday, Apple AAPL, -0.07%   announced its first smartwatch, a design-savvy, multifunctional wristwatch that can do everything from provide a quick interface to your iPhone, track your activity and workouts, pay for goods and services and send messages to contacts. It’s also the best-looking smartwatch out there, with a slim face and models available in gold, aluminum and stainless steel, as well as a variety of bands. And of particular note because of their uniqueness in the smartwatch market are features like the digital crown (a physical dial that lets users go deeper into content and enables you to touch the watch face less), force touch (this is like a right click and enables users to get more information about something) and digital touch application (this lets you send a quick drawing you make or digital message to a contact), says Ramon Llamas, a research manager at IDC. “This is a superbly crafted smartwatch,” he says.

But despite all those perks, is this something consumers should buy when it becomes available in early 2015? Some analysts say no. Here are three reasons you shouldn’t buy — or at least should wait to buy — the Apple Watch.

You’ll get stuck with the kinks

While it’s possible the Apple Watch is a perfect technical specimen without kinks (that one’s for you, Apple fanboys), like most new-to-market gadgets — Apple and otherwise — there are likely kinks. And buying the item right out of the gate means you may get stuck waiting for hours at the Apple Store to deal with any hardware issues the watch may have. ß“The mass market should wait for the second or third generation,” says Llamas. “Like any good tech company, Apple will collect all the feedback [from this first generation] and say ‘what are the areas we need to address right away.’” (Granted, later generations of the product can also have issues.)

If you’re patient, you can get it cheaper

The Apple Watch is pricey at $350, so it’s not for everyone, says IBISWorld research analyst James Crompton. “Apple is targeting a higher income consumer,” he explains. (Plus, you need an iPhone to use it, so that may add an additional cost if you have to replace your smartphone.) And if the Apple Watch follows the pattern of other Apple devices — like the iPod and iPhone — you’ll be able to get it much cheaper down the road, he adds. Indeed, often when Apple gets ready to launch a new iteration of a product, it drops the price of the older version; the Apple Watch may also appear on the secondary market on sites like Gazelle and NextWorth so you can buy a used — and cheaper — one later on. (Of course, this requires you to wait to get that coveted watch.) Furthermore, Llamas points out that other smartwatch makers may “panic” at Apple’s entry in the market, which could lead to them lowering their prices.

It’s an accessory, not a necessity

While a smartphone has become a necessity in most of our lives, the smartwatch has a long way to go before it reaches that level. “You don’t need it,” says Llamas. “The Apple marketing team is great at generating outright lust, but lust is not need … it is an accessory.” Indeed, many of the things the Apple Watch does, you can do on your smartphone already; and with regards to the fitness tracking, there are other (often cheaper) devices that can do much of this. As Crompton puts it: The Apple Watch is not necessary, but if you have the money to buy one, they’re pretty cool.

culled from  -MarketWatch