Visual China.
Apple's highly-anticipated new product, Vision Pro, is about to hit the mark.
On January 8, local time, Apple's official website announced that Apple's Vision Pro will be available in all Apple retail stores in the United States and Apple ** stores in the United States on February 2, with a starting price of $3499, about RMB 250,000 yuan with 256GB of storage, but Apple has not announced a specific date for its release in China.
As of the day**, Apple's stock price closed at 185$56 shares, closed up 242%, with a total market capitalization of about 2$886 trillion. Affected by the downgrade, Apple's stock price closed down in the last four trading days, with a cumulative decline of about 59%, and the total market capitalization evaporated by more than $176 billion.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said: "The era of spatial computing has arrived. Apple Vision Pro is the most advanced consumer electronics device ever built, and its revolutionary and magical user interface will redefine the way we connect, create, and explore. According to Apple, Vision Pro is a revolutionary spatial computing device that seamlessly blends digital content with the physical world, providing the most natural and intuitive input through the user's eyes, hands, and voice, unlocking a powerful spatial experience, and this is Apple's first major new product attempt since the launch of the Apple Watch in 2014. The Vision Pro's display uses Micro OLED technology, which is provided by Sony and chipmaker TSMC.
But the problem with this state-of-the-art consumer electronics product is not only the high selling price, but also the capacity and pressure from competitors.
According to research firm Canalys**, Vision Pro may face the challenge of running out of stock after a year on the market, and in five years, Vision Pro production could increase to 12.6 million units, about 1% of the current installed capacity of iPhones. Canalys also pointed out that Apple does not expect the product to be profitable on the device in the early days, but to innovate and build a virtual reality ecosystem, which will ultimately drive Apple's higher revenue and profit levels.
In terms of features and use cases, playing games is one of the main uses of Vision Pro, such as "NBA 2K24 Arcade Edition" and more than 200 games can be played on this device. According to Apple's previously released financial report data for the third quarter of 2023, Apple's revenue from wearables, household products and accessories in the third quarter was 93$2.2 billion, which is not up to 94 percent of analysts$300 million. According to the Financial Associated Press, Tianfeng International** analyst Ming-Chi Kuo posted on X on the 9th that after the Vision Pro starts pre-ordering or selling, it should be sold out soon and show a longer shipping time. If not, it may take longer for Vision Pro to succeed. The Vision Pro is equipped with MR XR specifications and software that significantly exceed the industry average, resulting in high reviews, but whether this enthusiasm can be sustained depends on whether the Vision Pro's product positioning and key applications are clear and correct.
In addition, according to foreign media reports, at the CES 2024 exhibition, Sony released a "space" VR headset with an intelligent control ring, which is equipped with Snapdragon XR2+Gen 2 platform and is equipped with a 4K OLED display screen. According to Sony, the new product is not primarily aimed at players like PlayStationVR, but is designed for professionals who work in 3D, and the wearer can expand the creative space by superimposing virtual objects in the physical space, and the product will be launched later in the new year, and there is no news of pricing yet, although it will have some competition with Apple's Vision Pro.
For Apple, the Vision Pro is the core grip of its new growth curve, because its "king fried" product, the iPhone, has been in trouble. According to Counterpoint Research**, Apple's market share of the global premium smartphone market ($600 wholesale price) was 71% in 2023, down from 75% in the same period in 2022.
According to Bloomberg, investment bank Jefferies analyst Edison Lee cited industry survey results in an investor note showing that Apple's start to the year in China has been unusually sluggish, with iPhone sales falling off a cliff in the first week of 2024, 30% higher than the same period in previous years. Although Apple has slashed prices on major e-commerce platforms in China, it has not been able to stimulate sales growth, so Jefferies also said that Apple's iPhone sales will see a double-digit decline in 2024.
Previously, Apple was downgraded by Barclays analysts from "hold-and-see" to "** analysts said in a report: "We expect the stock to reverse the situation when Apple's quarterly results have missed expectations for most quarters over the past year and the stock price has outperformed other companies." The current "sluggish" sales of the iPhone 15, particularly in China, bode well for iPhone 16 sales that could be just as weak, the report said. "Our assessment of iPhone 15 sales and product mix remains negative," the report said. We also believe that there are no features or upgrades that could make the iPhone 16 even more noticeable".
Under the pressure of the iPhone, Apple still hopes that it will come as soon as possible, even though it knows that it will be difficult for the Vision Pro to make quick profits in the short term. Foreign technology**9to5mac dig deep into ios 173 Beta 2 update**, it was found that Apple has modified the description of the Vision Pro headset, removing the "Pro", which is currently only "Apple Vision", which believes that Apple is preparing for a later version of the headset, according to Apple's official website in the United States, the headset is listed as "Vision" instead of "Vision Pro".
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman believes that Apple's goal is to set the price point of this **lower model at between $1,500 and $2,500. However, given that the Apple Vision Pro is currently only available in the United States and will not be available in several other countries by the end of the year, it is unlikely that Apple will launch a lower** Apple Vision before 2025.
It is worth noting that Apple's Xcode update invites developers to submit VisionOS apps to the App Store, but according to the latest guidelines, Apple asks developers not to use terms such as "AR", "VR", "XR", "MR" and other terms to refer to their latest apps, which is not in line with Apple's previous propaganda. Instead, Apple calls the VisionOS app "Spatial Computing Apps."