You gonna have to throw some shapes to get hold of a new Apple Watch next week.

The latest Counterpointdata claims that Apple Watch holds a third of the smartwatch market. Here are some reasons why this is the case, and a couple of ways Apple could extend its hold on the market.

More than a watch

A phone, an exercise tracker, a messaging machine, heart attack warning system, music player and a map you always have with you. These are just some of the many utilities you get when you get an Apple Watch.

Better each year

People really should celebrate Apple’s commitment to regular software upgrades. Not only does this mean its iPhones get better all year every year, but it also means they get loads better once a year when major iOS upgrades ship. It’s exactly the same for Apple Watch, which is probably the only smartwatch in the industry that will be offer more functions by the time you choose to upgrade the device than it offered when you first took it out the box.

Keeping those promises

Accuracy matters. Apple Watch delivers credible and reliable fitness biometrics – recall all the critics rolled out by some in the clickbait media who said the built-in ECG would generate too many false positives? They were wrong. A recent study proved they were wrong. Accuracy matters when it comes to wellness. Apple knows this.

Streaming music system

You can keep your iPhone in your pocket and still stream new music from Apple Music using your watch. If you cough up the cash for a cellular connection for it, you can access Apple Music wherever you happen to be, playing it back to your heart’s content.

Highly secure, highly portable payments

Apple Pay is great. (Well, I like it a lot). Apple Pay on Apple Watch means you endure less hassle on public transport, can pick up groceries fast, purchase fuel or even pay your share of the restaurant bill using Apple Pay Cash. Not only that, but if someone steals your watch they won’t be able to pay for anything, and your card numbers won’t be cloned.

It’s also a phone

Cellular connection or iPhone in your pocket, Apple Watch is a highly convenient way to take or make a call, so long as you don’t mind talking into your wrist.

And a TV controller

Got an Apple TV? You can control it with your watch – and it’s unlikely to slip down the back of the sofa.

And home control system

Dabbling in smart home automation? Apple Watch lets you control your systems using the watch or Siri or.

An enterprise tool

Big enterprises are using Apple Watch in numerous ways.

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And more

While I think it is fair to say that initial optimism around app development for Apple Watch faded as people realised that accessing apps via a tiny screen isn’t such fun, there are still many useful apps available for the platform. Each one of these empowers a user to add features to their device that they need the most, and this kind of personalization also extends the use case for these devices.

Two reasons why not

Apple has two clear opportunities through which it could grab an even bigger slice of the smartwatch market:

1. Make the device Android compatible, or iPhone-independent.
2. Create devices in different shapes – many consumers still seek a round watch.

How else might Apple ramp up its share?

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