How many Watches will Apple flog? 20, er, 18.5, no, five, wait, 50 million!

Yeah, uh, thanks for that, analysts

With the Apple Watch allegedly just weeks away from going on sale, industry pundits are weighing in on their predictions for the Cupertino wearable.

And boy, do those estimates differ, with wide ranges of price tags and sales figures.

According to analysts, the Apple watch will be a hit, unless it's not, and its cost will range from very cheap to eye-watering expensive.

According to a report from CCS Insight, the Apple strap-on will flog somewhere around 20 million units by the end of the year. The research firm estimates that Apple will account for one in four shipments in what the company is calling a "make or break year" for the smartwatch sector.

Other industry watchers have a slightly more tempered view of the company's prospects. Evercore analyst Rob Cihra said, in a January estimate to investors, that Apple will shift 18.5m units by 2016.

In the short term, Apple appears to have more modest goals. The company has reportedly placed orders for 5 to 6 million units, according to the Wall Street Journal, though DigiTimes reckons Apple has ordered enough components to build 50 million units.

So, how many watches will Apple sell? Right now we appear to be in a grey area somewhere between 5 million and 50 million, give or take.

And how much will it cost? that appears to be an even less precise science. Apple has said that the low-end rubber version Watch will cost $350, but the cost of the gold-plated premium models has according to Forbes got into used car territory, with an asking price pushing the $5,000 mark. ®