Apple is finally going to release a headset device, can the old "meta-universe" make a comeback?
Focus:
- 1 "meta-universe" or comeback, following Meta's official announcement of the consumer-grade MR headset Quest 3, Apple is about to release the Reality Pro headset.
- The 2Reality Pro headset may cost $3,000, and it may develop into smart glasses in the future or towards lightness.
- The 3 metaverse boom has passed, with related startups raising about $664 million in the first five months of this year, down sharply from $2.93 billion in the same period in 2022.
- 4 Microsoft and Disney are still committed to metaverse development, but have cut some projects and laid off employees on a small scale.
Tencent Technology News on June 5, foreign media recently wrote that before Apple released the long-rumored Reality Pro headset, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg officially announced that the company's first consumer-grade MR headset Meta Quest 3 will be sold for $500 this fall. The meaning of Meta stealing Apple is very obvious, and the concept of the "meta-universe" that has been outdated will not die, and it may shine again.
The following is a summary of the article:
At the end of October 2021, Zuckerberg, co-founder and CEO of Facebook, who has the dream of a "meta-universe", officially announced that he would change the company's name to Meta. The new name, Meta, is taken from the word Metaverse, which means metaverse.
A month later, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates blogged that within two or three years, he believed that most virtual meetings would transition from a "two-dimensional video grid" to a "three-dimensional metaverse" with a digital avatar. Shortly thereafter, Microsoft announced that it would spend $70 billion to acquire video game giant Activision Blizzard, saying that the deal would provide "sufficient resources needed for the metaverse." But since then, interest in the metaverse has abruptly stopped. Investors in the tech sector have turned their attention to new trends such as artificial intelligence. Despite the initial enthusiasm, companies such as Disney and Microsoft have terminated some metaverse projects.
At Apple's upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference, the tech giant is expected to unveil its virtual reality hardware offering: high-tech headsets that blend the digital and real worlds. Apple is betting that it can use mixed reality products to engage consumers better than Meta. Meta's high-end Quest Pro headset has been mediocre since its launch, and Apple can ignite mainstream consumer interest in virtual reality devices in ways other companies don't. According to current and former employees familiar with Apple's development plans, the Apple headset, which looks similar to ski goggles, is expected to sell for $3,000.
Apple has done this before. Eventually hot products like the iPod, iPhone, and Apple Watch started in niche markets and later developed into mainstream products. But even Apple executives are skeptical of the company's prospects in virtual reality. They say virtual reality may not be ready for its mainstream moment. So far, Apple has not commented on this report.
For many investors, the idea of immersive, all-encompassing online worlds makes more sense, as people have been forced to stay at home during the pandemic. According to data compiled by PitchBook, metaverse-related startups raised approximately $664 million in venture capital in the first five months of 2023, down significantly from $2.93 billion in the same period in 2022. PitchBook said the decline slashed recent startup investment in the metaverse to about a quarter of its peak in the first half of 2022. Doug Creutz, an analyst at Cowen & Company, said, "The metaverse investment boom is coming and going, and now people are focused on artificial intelligence. People who once pursued the metaverse have long changed their stance. ”
This year, Microsoft shut down the Altspace VR virtual reality world, which it acquired in 2017. According to people familiar with the matter, the company also laid off some employees working on HoloLens mixed reality headsets and canceled or reassigned teams that had been working on metaverse projects. However, Microsoft said in a statement that it remains committed to the metaverse and said it is launching a "three-dimensional avatar" for Microsoft Teams. According to people familiar with the matter, Disney also laid off about 50 employees who had worked on metaverse projects.
In the case of Meta, Zuckerberg's restructuring plan around the metaverse is costly. Meta's hardware division, Reality Labs, including its Oculus headset, is a big reason for Meta's significant increase in spending in recent years. The division lost about $4 billion in the first quarter of this year. Zuckerberg warned that building the metaverse would be a money-losing proposition that would barely deliver on the promise of early returns, much longer than he expected. In recent months, while Zuckerberg has been annoyed by the claim that the metaverse is no longer his focus, he and his assistants have indeed spent more time talking about Meta's expertise in artificial intelligence during this time.
Ashley Zandy, a spokeswoman for Meta, said: "It has always been clear to us that our vision for the metaverse is long-term and that has not changed. We are committed to the metaverse vision and are already seeing good momentum. Not long ago, before Apple, Meta officially announced that its first consumer MR headset, Meta Quest 3, will be released in the fall of 2023, with a 128GB price of $499.99. To date, consumers have spent more than $1.5 billion on apps and games on Meta's Quest App Store.
For Apple, its new headset could be the start of a long-term plan that will eventually lead to a more popular virtual reality product on the market, such as a pair of lightweight glasses. Some analysts suggest that Apple could take an experimental approach, evaluating how early adopters use it and then making changes before marketing future versions to a wider audience. This is similar to the case with the Apple Watch. The product was originally positioned as an assistive device for the iPhone, but was later redefined as a fitness device.
Despite the fading enthusiasm, many believe that the metaverse is not going to die completely. Long before Meta promoted the metaverse, some companies were already touting the technology, such as Roblox and Epic Games, which are still committed to their long-term vision. Venture capitalist Matthew Ball has written a book about the metaverse. Mainstream attention to the concept after Facebook's name change spurred outlandish predictions about whether people would spend time in an immersive online world, he said. "It's more about mismanaging the schedule," Bauer said. "The strong focus on the metaverse in a short period of time, which some believe is here now, or is about to be here, is destined to disappoint many."
With tens of millions of participants, user-generated content, and the digital economy, Roblox and Epic Games, the developer who made the Battle of Fortnite Royale game, can offer a more compelling vision of the metaverse. Roblox, a platform with millions of games often aimed at children, had 66.1 million daily users in the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 22% from a year ago. Craig Donato, the company's chief commercial officer, said Roblox is working to expand into other immersive online experiences, but the mature metaverse is still far away. "We're still largely in the initial stages," Donato said.
In March, Epic Games released new tools designed to help Fortnite players create and earn their own games on the platform, fueling the creation of the Fortnite online economy – a cornerstone of the metaverse vision touted by the company's CEO, Tim Sweeney. Sweeney said mainstream interest in the metaverse attracts people who aren't really interested in the space.
"A lot of people try to follow this trend and don't really deliver on their promises," he said. "But if you look at the trend, it's continuing to grow, and it looks like it's continuing to grow exponentially." (Mowgli)