Apple is joining the VR battle with the Vision Pro
It has now been almost two years since Facebook made its first major move in the battle for the VR market. The company even changed its name to Meta, as in Metaverse. Although the negative stigma attached to the name Facebook will also have played a role. Socializing, grocery shopping, according to Mark Zuckerberg, it would all soon take its place in the Metaverse. That expectation seems increasingly unlikely as time goes on. Still, Apple is joining the fray with its own VR headset, the Apple Vision Pro, which is supposed to mix VR and Augmented Reality (AR) into a “Revolutionary product”.
Most ambitious product in ages
It’s now a mainstream view that under Tim Cook, Apple has lost some of the once-innovative nature Apple was known for. Once the leading player in tech land, now mainly a new iPhone, iPad and desktop every year. It is a pity that now that a new product is being announced, one that Steve Jobs himself has had nothing to do with, it is about something that probably few people are waiting for.
The device should cost $3500. More than three times the price of a high-end iPhone and then you still have enough money left over. What do you get for it? In fact, the headset doesn’t do anything we haven’t seen before. Think VR headsets like the Oculus (bought by Facebook). Venture into another world, do conference calls with colleagues in 3D and have apps projected in front of you.
The Vision Pro does offer a feature that other VR headsets on the market don’t have, namely an AR mode. Here you see the environment where the headset can project things (in your own image, that is). However, this function in itself is nothing new. Google Glass already offered this function to the wider public a while ago, but it turned out that no one was waiting for it.
Apple vs Meta
Meta is currently the largest player in the VR market. With the purchase of Oculus, the company acquired valuable knowledge and technology. But the market is not that big at all. According to the IDC (International Data Group, a company that researches market share, among other things), “only” 10 million VR headsets will be shipped this year by all companies combined. By comparison, Apple alone ships tens of millions of iPhones each quarter.
The emerging rivalry between Apple and Meta has the potential to define the market. But both companies must first find out whether the market is viable. It is of course part of the developments in the tech market. Gambling has to be done, otherwise you will only run behind the facts.
A weighted interpretation of the launch therefore seems to give the impression that the arrows are aimed at developers. When these develop apps that appeal to the wider public, interest in the product will logically increase. The Vision Pro will be launched sometime next year, but only in the US. By the time Apple has a wider release to the general public, it’s expected that the hefty price tag will have subsided somewhat. Whether the Vision Pro will indeed get the creative juices flowing, and thus gain market share, time will tell.
