Ming-Chi Kuo: Apple could sell more than a billion pairs of AR smartglasses

Apple will launch an augmented-reality headset in the fourth quarter of 2022, and could sell more than a billion of the new glasses over the next 10 years, TFI Asset Management analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote in a research note to clients on Friday.

"Apple Glasses" designed by Martin Hajek for iDrop News
“Apple Glasses” concept designed by Martin Hajek for iDrop News

Eric J. Savitz for Barron’s:

Kuo predicts the AR device will have “Mac-level” computing power, equipped with two processors, including one chip similar to the M1 processor found in Macbooks, and a second processor to handle sensor-related computing. He also predicts the Apple AR headset will come with two Sony 4K Micro OLED displays, giving it the power to also handle virtual-reality applications. And he says that the headset will operate independently, without relying on ties to a Mac or iPhone.

Kuo also asserts that Apple’s goal is to replace the iPhone with AR hardware within 10 years. Based on the current iPhone installed base, he asserts that the new device has a market opportunity of more than 1 billion devices over the next decade.

MacDailyNews Take: As with iPhone, Apple’s AR glasses will usher in a completely new age. Just as there is a clear delineation in time between “Before iPhone” and “After iPhone,” so, too, it shall be with Apple’s AR glasses.

As iPhone was to Nokia and Apple Watch is to Swatch, Apple Glasses will be to Ray-Ban et al.MacDailyNews, March 8, 2019

Once Apple’s augmented reality smartglasses are released, people are going to want to wear them during every waking hour.MacDailyNews, February 26, 2019

Someday, hopefully sooner than later, we’ll look back at holding up slabs of metal and glass to access AR as unbelievably quaint. — MacDailyNews, July 28, 2017

The impact of augmented reality cannot be overstated. It will be a paradigm shift larger than the iPhone and the half-assed clones it begat. — MacDailyNews, August 4, 2017

Augmented Reality is going to change everything.MacDailyNews, July 21, 2017

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[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]

8 Comments

  1. Everyone wants to look like Bono…I bet U2.

    Truly, I expect amazing things with this tech, but it will go through many iterations to diminish the creepy factor. The “always on” camera will be a major feature to be parsed. But, this same feature could mean one can watch a concert w/o the numerous phones destroying the view while the obsessed social media nube looks for content to post.

  2. This would bring in the 5th wave of computing for people:

    Being first computers, eniac etc.
    Being democratization of pcs so apple 2
    Being democratization of usability of PCs, so Mac
    Being intercommunication, so Internet
    Being iPhone and mobile
    Wearable/seeable/everywhere computing would be the 5th wave, and it would be bigger than the previous waves

    If apple makes a good product here and update is anything like AirPods, it will be a whole new world.

    1. For some reason it deleted my number
      Being first computers, eniac etc.—0
      Being democratization of pcs so apple 2—1
      Being democratization of usability of PCs, so Mac—2
      Being intercommunication, so Internet—3
      Being iPhone and mobile—4
      Wearable/seeable/everywhere computing would be the 5th wave, and it would be bigger than the previous waves—5

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