In defiance of Meta, Apple planned to unveil mixed reality headsets

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SAN FRANCISCO, June 2 (Reuters) – Apple Inc (AAPL.O) is expected to announce a new headset that will merge video from the outside world with the virtual world at its annual software developer conference next week.

Apple CEO Tim Cook and Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) CEO Mark Zuckerberg are trying to define how consumers will use a new generation of technology where the real and digital worlds converge.

Zuckerberg has outlined a vision of the “metaverse,” a parallel digital universe where people will come together to work and play, and has been producing for years.

Apple’s marketing chief Greg Joswiak, by contrast, recently called the metaverse “a word I’ll never use.” And Apple’s device so far is just a rumor. Apple’s presentations at the Worldwide Developers Conference begin Monday at 10:00 am PDT (1700 GMT) in California.

Until now, the company best known for iPhones has limited its augmented reality efforts to technology that works on existing devices, such as allowing retailer apps to display virtual furniture in a customer’s living room.

“Meta and Apple are in competition with each other. The difference is Meta does it publicly, while Apple does it privately,” said Anshel Sag, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy.

Analysts say the Apple device, which Bloomberg says could cost around $3,000 and look like a pair of ski goggles, is something of a placeholder. The great vision of the Cupertino, California-based company remains to produce a pair of transparent glasses that superimpose digital information on the real world and can be worn all day, every day, analysts say, but faced with the competition, decided to launch his own eyewear.

Apple declined to comment on its future plans and products.

NO “KILLER APPS” YET

Apple eyewear technology remains years away, and in the meantime, Apple’s rivals like Sony Group Corp (6758.T) and Pico, which is owned by TikTok parent ByteDance, have released mixed reality headsets that hint at what it is possible to do with mixing the real world and the virtual one. Meta Platforms this week announced its Quest 3 headset for $500, following last year’s release of the Quest Pro, which sells for $1,000.

Apple has been touting augmented reality features for its iPhones and iPads since 2017, but its primary uses have remained limited primarily to mobile shopping apps and a handful of games.

Part of the reason Apple has kept its efforts private, analysts say, is that no one in Silicon Valley is quite sure how people will ultimately use augmented or mixed reality technology, which insiders call short ” XR”. There is no “killer app” for the device yet.

So rather than targeting a mass-market price point, Apple appears to be preparing a premium device that is meant to show software developers what’s possible so they can create compelling apps.

“No one believes this market is close to maturity in the foreseeable future,” said Ben Bajarin, chief executive officer and principal analyst at Creative Strategies.

The biggest risk for Apple is putting its reputation for fine products on the line as it engages in a costly battle with Meta for dominance in a market that barely exists yet. Last year, Meta held 80 percent of an overall market for augmented and virtual reality headsets that was just 8.8 million units, according to data from research firm IDC. In contrast, IDC estimates that Apple alone has sold 226 million iPhones.

While Meta has products on the market, Apple has big advantages in defining the emerging field among software developers, said Jitesh Ubrani, a research manager following the XR market at IDC. Apple has strong relationships with developers who want access to a 2 billion device installed base that includes Macs, Apple Watches, iPhones and more.

“They can leverage the ecosystem they’ve already built to keep users inside their walled garden,” Ubrani said. “And Apple is in a much better position to give you an experience that works across devices than Meta.”

Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco Editing by Peter Henderson and Matthew Lewis

Our standards: the Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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