ARK Invest, an investment firm led by Cathie Wood, boldly asserts that current augmented and virtual reality technology, including offerings from tech giants like $Apple (AAPL.US)$ and $Meta Platforms (META.US)$, fails to meet the mark when it comes to capturing the masses adoption.
What Happened: Earlier this week, sharing the tidbits of their internal discussions via the video series "The Brainstorm," ARK Invest Nick Grous and Sam Korus touched upon several topics, one of which was Apple's highly anticipated 2023 WWDC.
They specifically talked about the major hardware product launch Cupertino did after at least five years of silence — the Apple Vision Pro mixed reality headset.
In the video, Grous admitted that Apple's headset has "wowed" many reviewers and the device itself has a lot of hardware and technology built, but also pointed out that the hefty price tag of almost $3,500 could put it at a disadvantage.
Speaking further, Grous stated that he has a wager going internally that Apple would only be able to sell under a million units of Apple Vision Pro in its first year – and the primary reason behind it would be the price point. He said that it is likely that more developers would buy the product than consumers.
The analysts also discussed that the name of the device, Apple Vision Pro is called "Pro" for a reason and maybe with this device the company is going after the developers but continues to market it so consumers understand Apple's approach toward the AR/VR ecosystem.
It is pertinent to note here that previously Bloomberg columnist Mark Gurman stated that Apple is working on a cheaper version of its first-generation mixed-reality headset. It could be called Apple Vision or Apple Vision One.
Speaking about whether people actually want to buy these headsets — a question which is more important to ask rather than whether consumers are willing to pay $3,500, Grous said that to answer this question it is first important to understand if "VR ready for prime time?"
I think, there's still a long way that this market needs to go before consumers are wearing these devices for an X amount of hours a day on a regular basis," he said, adding " I don't think there's a single device that's ready and could be brought to masses"
He was making the statement with respect to all the devices present in the market currently, including Meta's Quest lineup and Apple Vision Pro.
Why It's Important: It was previously reported that while Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg doesn't think Apple's debut mixed reality headset had any "magical" technological advancements, he did say that Cupertino's entry in the AR/VR segment will give more "validation to the category."
Zuckerberg also said that considering the price of the Apple Vision Pro headset, it wouldn't be affordable to many people, which would ultimately benefit Meta and other headset-makers.
方舟投资,一家由... 领导的投资公司 凯茜伍德,大胆地断言,当前的增强现实和虚拟现实技术,包括来自科技巨头的产品,例如 苹果公司 (纳斯达克股票代码:AAPL)和 元平台公司 纳斯达克股票代码:META)在吸引大众采用方面未能达到目标。
发生了什么: 本周早些时候,通过视频系列 “头脑风暴” 分享了他们内部讨论的花絮,ARK Invest Nick Grous 和 山姆·科鲁斯 谈到了几个话题,其中一个是苹果备受期待的2023 WWDC。
他们特别谈到了库比蒂诺在沉默了至少五年之后发布的主要硬件产品——Apple Vision Pro混合现实耳机。
另请参阅: 为什么马克·扎克伯格认为苹果的 Vision Pro 头戴式耳机证实了 AR/VR 的未来
在视频中,格鲁斯承认苹果的头戴式耳机让许多评论者 “赞叹不已”,而且该设备本身内置了大量硬件和技术,但也指出,近3500美元的高昂价格可能会使其处于不利地位。
格鲁斯进一步表示,他内部押注苹果在第一年只能售出不到一百万台的Apple Vision Pro——而其背后的主要原因将是价格点。他说,购买该产品的开发者可能多于消费者。
分析师还讨论说,这款设备的名称Apple Vision Pro被称为 “Pro” 是有原因的,也许该公司正在追捕开发者,但仍在继续推销它,以便消费者了解苹果对AR/VR生态系统的态度。
这里需要指出的是,彭博社前专栏作家 马克·古尔曼 表示苹果正在开发其第一代混合现实耳机的更便宜版本。它可以叫做 Apple Vision 或 Apple Vision One。
在谈到人们是否真的想购买这些头戴式耳机——这个问题比消费者是否愿意支付3500美元更重要。格鲁斯说,要回答这个问题,首先要了解 “虚拟现实是否为黄金时段做好了准备?”
他说:“我认为,在消费者每天定期佩戴这些设备X个小时之前,这个市场还有很长的路要走,” 他补充说,“我认为没有一款设备可以准备就绪并可以推向大众。”
他就目前市场上存在的所有设备发表了声明,包括Meta的Quest系列和Apple Vision Pro。
为什么它很重要: 此前有报道称,而 Meta 首席执行官 马克·扎克伯格 他认为苹果的首款混合现实耳机没有任何 “神奇的” 技术进步,他确实说库比蒂诺进入增强现实/虚拟现实领域将为该类别提供更多的 “验证”。
扎克伯格还表示,考虑到Apple Vision Pro耳机的价格,许多人负担不起,这最终将使Meta和其他头戴式耳机制造商受益。
通过以下方式查看 Benzinga 对消费科技的更多报道 点击这个链接。
继续阅读: 苹果的 Vision Pro 与 Meta 的 Quest 3 相比如何?