Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in a blog post on Friday that, after announcing its first “high-end” mixed-reality headset in June, Apple plans to release “low-end” and “high-end” second-generation mixed-reality headsets in 2025.
It’s expected that Pegatron will likely transfer the AR/MR development team and production resources to Luxcaseict (a joint venture between Luxshare ICT and Pegatron), led by Luxshare ICT, in 1H23. It essentially means that Luxshare ICT will take over this product’s subsequent design and production. Such changes will lead to the subsequent acceleration of reducing the cost of the headset, which is what Apple expects.
Pegatron is a shareholder of Luxcaseict, so Luxcaseict’s profit will be beneficial to Pegatron, but essentially, Pegatron is gradually withdrawing from Apple’s headset business.
As the shipments of Apple’s first-generation AR/MR headsets are extremely low, it is difficult for Luxshare ICT to profit from this investment in the short term. Luxshare ICT’s growth in 2023 and 2024 depends entirely on Apple’s orders. Therefore, if Apple expects Luxshare ICT to take over the headset, it will be difficult for Luxshare ICT to refuse this request.
Luxshare ICT will use Luxcaseict to win orders for Apple’s new AR/MR headset products in the future. I think the best scenario for Luxcaseict is for Apple’s headsets to sell well and conduct an IPO when the visibility of revenue and profit growth is good.
Apple’s second-generation AR/MR headset has two high-end and low-end models. The high-end and low-end will be developed and produced by Luxcaseict and Foxconn, respectively. The current launch schedule for both models will likely be in 2025.
I think this could be a potential warning sign for Apple. Despite repeatedly stating that it is optimistic about AR, why can it not make suppliers willing to continue cooperating with Apple to develop this product? In the past two years, why have some Apple suppliers been more willing to invest in new businesses, such as electric vehicles, than cooperate with Apple’s expansion/investment?
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s strategy seems to be to get the early adopters / reviewers excited by the experiences that a very high-quality mixed-reality headset can offer which will then excite consumers to join via a lower cost model in 2025.
Regardless, this project isn’t going to be moving any revenue needles for Apple any time soon.
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews by shopping The Apple Store at Amazon.
Ahh yeah, sure…and when does that folding phone show up? Hmmm…?
First the folding iPad in 2025, then a Mac without a notch in 2027 and then a gender-bending, all-androgynous executive suite, and finally a folding iPhone sometime in the early 2030s, about the same time Elon lands on Mars 🚀👽
This is sorta like the 10 day forecast, followed by a 30 day outlook. Let’s hope Mings predications (hunches) are more accurate than our local meteorologist.
I think the local meteorologists could do better than this…Ming.
Ming needs to park it somewhere.