In just four months, mass production of Apple’s long-rumored mixed-reality (AR and VR) headset is expected to commence, DigiTimes reports on Wednesday. In August, TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple’s mixed-reality (AR/VR) headset will be its “next revolutionary consumer electronics product.” Kuo expects a January 2023 announcement. Kuo said the Apple headset could be priced between $2,000 and $2,500, with a higher price expected to impact shipments.
Initial production is said to be very limited, with a high price point limiting Apple’s first headset mainly to commercial markets.
Industry sources stated this XR headset mainly targets the commercial markets. The price is higher and the shipment quantity is limited. Previous estimates said that the annual shipment for this device would reach 2.5 million units. However, right now, rough estimates placed the annual shipment at around 0.7 to 0.8 million units. For supply chain manufacturers that benefit from quantity, this is not a particularly profitable order. – DigiTimes
Both Kuo and DigiTimes appear to be citing similar time frames for mass production, with differences in expected introduction timing (January for Kuo and April for DigiTimes) coming down to Apple’s preference for how much lead time to give developers before the headset begins shipping.
MacDailyNews Take: Focused on developers at first, but the revolution will follow!
Apple has the custom silicon. Apple has the installed base. Apple has the ecosystem. Apple has the services. Apple will have the profitable portion of the mixed-reality headset market. And then, a few years later, Apple will take the profitable portion of the smartglasses (AR) market, too.
And some people will slap their foreheads and lament, “I could’ve bought Apple shares under $140!” – MacDailyNews, May 24, 2022
Apple’s smartgoggles will be cool, but it’s the subsequent Apple smartglasses that will change the world. – MacDailyNews, July 11, 2022
Augmented Reality is going to change everything. — MacDailyNews, July 21, 2017
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
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Shop The Apple Store at Amazon.
