The Product Announcement We’ve All Been Waiting For: Apple’s VisionOS — Falls Flat On Its Face
Stocks
June 5, 2023
Another week in 2023, another big tech giant breaking all-time highs. This time, we’ve got Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) leading up to its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).
Major announcements included the 15in MacBook Air, the new macOS Sonoma and Apple’s Standby mode.
The one everyone was waiting for: The much anticipated VR/AR headset — Vision Pro.
- VisionOS — Apple’s new operating system built for the device — with a specialized R1 chip.
- EyeSight — a feature that shows your eyes visible through the headset when someone is near you.
- Disney — Apple brought on Disney’s CEO Bob Iger to announce that Disney+ will be available on release.
The device is priced at $3,499 and will be available in early 2024. But its success depends on how it solves issues faced by existing headsets like a lack of useful apps, physical limitations and pricing.
What happened after the announcement? 📉. Instead, Unity (NYSE:U) jumped 17% after Apple’s announced a partnership with the game development tool provider to build apps for the Vision Pro.
Grading the headset’s debut: 5/10
Beyond a few features, the headset isn’t much different compared to Meta’s — which has been forced to make several price cuts to attract users.
Apple is keeping a modest sales forecast of 900K units per year — according to Bloomberg (vs. 200M+ iPhones sold each year).
- An ex-Apple marketing exec said the headset could be “one of the great tech flops of all time.”
- From the initial product demo, that seems to be the trajectory for now…
Per tech reporter Casey Newton, “Apple usually gets hardware right in the end… in this case, the end is still a long time away.”
Hoping for $AAPL to rip higher?
Here’s what might stop that. Miller Tabak + Co’s chief market strategist says $AAPL stock has traded above 30x price-to-earnings (where it’s currently at) for only five days in the past half-dozen years (BBG).
Apple is still Apple: “Quality company, with a lot of cash, continued innovation, a fortress balance sheet, and a large customer base upgrading their products,” per DFD Partners’ CEO.
