Apple Watch Apps
There are already 3,500 apps available for Apple Watch, from proprietary Apple apps, such as iTunes and Mail, to significant third-party offerings from the likes of Salesforce and even Starbucks.
Health and Fitness
As well as being a mobile device, Apple Watch is being strongly positioned as a health and fitness companion, with Apple launching the HealthKit developer platform alongside iOS 8 to encourage app makers to create new health and fitness apps for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and, by extension, Apple Watch.
As well as built-in fitness tracking and motivation apps like Workout, Move and Activity, third-party apps like Nike+ Running, Runtastic, Strava, and Lifesum are also available straight away. Apps for more holistic exercise regimes, such as yoga, are available as well.
Travel
There is an abundance of travel apps available on Apple Watch, from flights to taxis to comparison sites. Airline apps for Apple Watch, such as British Airways and EasyJet, allow the user to track their flight status in real time, as well as informing them of when their gate has opened and providing a weather forecast for their destination.
Expedia and TripAdvisor also have apps on the Apple Watch. The former lets users check their upcoming travel itineraries, including flights and hotel information, while the latter can provide them of things to do, restaurants to visit and other important tourist information in their surroundings.
Other travel apps include National Rail, Uber, and remote car unlocking for VW and BMW cars.
Social Media
No mobile device would be complete without social media apps, so it's no surprise to find Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest all have Apple Watch apps available.
The Twitter app notifies users of new tweets or retweets via a tap on the wrist, which they can also read in full on the Apple Watch Screen. Wearers can also use the app to compose tweets via voice and follow trending topics.
Instagram, meanwhile, lets users browse their feed, like photos, and leave emoji comments, as well as delivering notifications.
Business
There has already been a significant number of work and productivity-focused apps announced. These include Salesforce and over 20 Salesforce partners, Invoice2go, Wunderlist and OfficeTime, with more expected to follow.
Apple Watch predictions and expectations
According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple is anticipating demand for Apple Watch Sport will be highest out of the three models, with half of the first quarter production run of five to six million devices being given over to the entry-level device.
The Apple Watch is said to account for around a third of the total first quarter production order, with the top of the range Apple Watch Edition making up the final 20 per cent.
However, analyst James McQuivey from Forrester predicted Apple will sell 10 million devices before the end of 2015, which, when taken with the WSJ's estimates, could go some way towards explaining the serious delay seen between ordering online and delivery at launch.
McQuivey said: "By [the end of the year], at least 100 million people will have an iPhone 5 or 6 that is capable of connecting to Apple Watch. All Apple needs is a 10 per cent conversion rate to sell 10 million units."
Technology market research firm CCS Insight has gone even further, predicting Apple will sell 20 million of its smartwatches this year. This would boost wearables market growth by an estimated 150 per cent to 75 million gadgets in 2015, hitting 350 million come 2018.
Other wearable tech creators are also pinning their hopes on the success of the Apple Watch, Reuters reported. Ben Wood, a gadget reviewer at CCS Insight, told the newswire: "If Apple is successful, it'll create a rising tide that will lift the whole market."
Will Apple Watch be a success?
The launch of the Apple Watch marks the consumer electronics giant out as a relative latecomer to the wearables party, with rivals Samsung, Sony and LG having already released products over the past year.
However, given Apple's track record for popularising existing technologies that have previously failed to capture the imagination of consumers (particularly in the case of the MP3 and tablet sectors), market watchers seem assured the Apple Watch will prove to be a hit.
Analyst firm Forrester Research has predicted the devices will go on to dominate the wearables market right through 2015, until its competitors catch-up and eat into its sales. This will cause Apple Watch sales to slow to the extent that its share of all smartwatch units sold will fall below 50 per cent during 2016.
This is far from the consensus, however, and sales expectations as put together by Business Insider have figures for Apple Watch varying significantly from one analyst to the next.
