Apple launches MR headset priced at 24,000 yuan, the Metaverse is still not a mass consumer product

Picture source: Tu Chong Creative

Apple released the long-awaited mixed reality (MR) headset Apple Vision Pro at the WWDC Developer Conference. According to reports, this device will be on sale in early 2024, priced at approximately RMB 24,000. Yuan.

At the same time, Apple also launched the 15-inch MacBook Air, which is the largest MacBook Air in Apple's history. It is equipped with an M2 chip and has a battery life of up to 18 hours; the newly launched Mac Pro is equipped with an M2 Ultra chip; The new Mac Studio is equipped with M2 Ultra self-developed chips and M2 Max self-developed chips.

In addition, Apple announced that it will upgrade the operating systems of its major products to iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and WatchOS 10.

After seven years of hard work, Apple’s first headset sells for 24,000 yuan

As early as a year ago, Apple’s head-mounted display equipment received widespread attention in the industry. At 1 a.m. on June 7, 2022, the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) was held as scheduled, but the head-mounted display device and realityOS were not released. In the past few months, rumors have been rampant that Apple will launch a head-mounted display device.

At that time, many industry personnel pointed out to reporters that Apple did not launch a head-mounted display device, either because the product hardware or content did not meet mass production standards, or because the product cost was too high and could not bring significant benefits to Apple. profit.

But after that, rumors about Apple’s head-mounted display equipment continued. In September of the same year, when Cook spoke at a university in Italy, he once again emphasized his views on AR, “Soon people will find that there is no AR Life is unimaginable. In the not-so-distant future, AR will have a profound impact."

After this, rumors about Apple head-mounted devices have continued.

Until today, Apple launched this Apple Vision Pro. It is reported that Apple Vision Pro will be on sale in early 2024, priced at US$3,499, approximately RMB 24,000, and this product has taken Apple seven years to develop.

Cook once again emphasized that AR will change the way people communicate, collaborate, work and entertain.

According to reports, Vision Pro is equipped with both M2 and R1 chips, and the R1 chip is a chip specially developed by Apple for this product and is mainly responsible for data transmission. Users can control Vision Pro with their hands, eyes and voice.

But compared to some products currently on the market, Vision Pro is indeed a bit high. Take Meta's Quest 3, which is scheduled to be released this fall, as an example. The 128GB version is priced at $499.99. Even the high-end Quest Pro has a starting price of only $1,499.99. But there are also opinions that the Metaverse is not originally a mass consumer product.

Even before the release, well-known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo expressed his latest views on Apple’s release of the headset. He said that in terms of head-mounted devices, if Apple's AR/MR head-mounted display is successfully released, it will have a great impact on 3D interaction design and 3D computer graphics, just like ChatGPT has on AI and AIGC (generative artificial intelligence). The impact is the same.

However, Ming-Chi Kuo also pointed out that investors seem to be more interested in understanding Apple’s efforts in artificial intelligence (AI) than this headset. "Investors are more concerned about when Apple will launch a service similar to ChatGPT than AR/MR headsets. In the long term, the key to the success of this headset is whether it can be highly integrated with AI/AIGC. ”

From a market perspective, Meta has always been the industry leader before Apple launched a head-mounted display device. According to IDC's latest report, among the top five AR/VR headset manufacturers, Meta leads with a 47.8% share, Sony occupies 35.9% of the market share with the just-launched PSVR 2, and ByteDance's Pico has increased from 4.4% in the same period last year. % rose to 6.1% this year, with DPVR and HTC ranking fourth and fifth, each with a market share of less than 2%.

However, what can be seen is that as the concept of the Metaverse gradually recedes, AR/VR headset shipments also show signs of decline. IDC data shows that in the first quarter of 2023, AR/VR headset shipments dropped 54.4% year-on-year, of which VR headsets accounted for 96.2%.

Although Sony has re-emerged as Meta's main competitor, it's clear that all eyes are now on Apple. IDC believes that Apple's huge influence will undoubtedly help them stand out, but considering the high price, Apple's share growth may be limited in the short term.

Can the new Mac boost Apple sales?

In fact, Apple’s recent performance does not seem to be very satisfactory.

Apple’s results for the first fiscal quarter of fiscal year 2023 (Q4 of 2022) released by Apple showed that Apple’s net revenue in the fiscal quarter was US$117.154 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 5%. This is the company’s first time since 2019 The year-on-year revenue decline occurred, marking the largest quarterly revenue decline since September 2016. In addition, Apple's net profit also declined significantly in the quarter, reaching US$29.998 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 13%.

Looking at Apple’s mobile phone revenue this quarter, it is not very ideal. Although the new iPhone 14 series had just been released at that time, Apple's revenue from iPhones fell by 8.2% year-on-year in the first fiscal quarter. Apple attributed this decline to supply chain issues affected by the epidemic. In line with the decline in mobile phone business revenue, its Greater China business fell by 7% year-on-year.

However, although Apple has repeatedly reiterated that the supply chain will be resolved in the second fiscal quarter, Apple's performance decline trend still exists. In the second fiscal quarter of 2023, Apple once again experienced a double decline in profits. Total net revenue was US$94.836 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 3%; net profit was US$24.16 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 3%.

Although mobile phone sales surged during this fiscal quarter, its iPhone revenue grew by only 1.5%, and revenue in Greater China still declined by 3% year-on-year.

Looking at the overall environment, the situation of global smartphones does not seem to be optimistic. According to Canalys data, global smartphone shipments fell by 13% in the first quarter of 2023 to 270 million units. Although the difference in shipments between the first quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023 is still relatively obvious, the decline in demand has begun to level off.

Thanks to the launch of new products, Samsung regained its leading position, with shipments reaching 60.3 million units. Apple ranked second with 58 million units shipped. Among the top five manufacturers, only Apple achieved year-on-year growth and achieved a market share of 21%.

Many industry insiders told reporters that the iPhone's buck-trend rise was due to the launch of the iPhone 14 Pro series of mobile phones equipped with Smart Island function, but Apple's subsequent shipments are still controlled by its innovation capabilities.

However, Apple faced the largest decline among the top five manufacturers in terms of desktop and laptop shipments in this quarter, with total Mac shipments falling 46% to 4 million units.

Industry insiders said that Apple needs innovation too much. Apple users and even the whole world are looking forward to Apple's epoch-making products.

At this Apple WWDC Developer Conference, Mac has also become the focus of Apple’s promotion. It remains to be seen whether the new products can bring sales.

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