Cook may have released one of his most important products in office.
Yan Junwen, reporter of "China Entrepreneur"
Editor|Li Wei
Source of header image | Visual China
Apple may be ushering in a new era.
In the early morning of June 6, Beijing time, Apple's 2023 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC23) was held in San Francisco, USA, at which Apple CEO Tim Cook released Apple's first wearable spatial computing MR (mixed reality) device - Apple Vision Pro. This is Apple's first major new product attempt since the launch of the Apple Watch 8 years ago.
Cook declared it a revolutionary product.
"The Mac brought us into the era of personal computing, the iPhone brought us into the era of mobile computing, and Apple Vision Pro brought us into the era of spatial computing, which is the beginning of a great journey, a new dimension of powerful personalized technology." Cook said at the press conference.
Since taking over as Apple's CEO in 2011, Cook has been considered a profit-oriented leader and professional manager who lacks innovation. Although he built Apple into the world's most profitable and valuable technology company, Apple has not launched an amazing product for many years since he took office. Now, Cook has released perhaps his most important product in office, which can be called Cook's personal "iPhone moment."
Apple Vision Pro starts at $3,499, about 25,000 yuan, and won't be available until next year. Moreover, people's attitude towards this product is slightly divided.
Some consumers and Apple fans have slammed the product for being nothing new, especially the battery life, which is quite chicken for two hours and requires an external "cable" to move. But for industry players and investors, it was a major watershed moment.
Jo Xu, founder of Openverse, a company that specializes in real-time driving 3D personalized avatar social, told "Chinese Entrepreneur" that Apple has opened a window for AR and VR developers, and in the past, they were often thought by investors, "This market is not big enough", "Your style is too niche", "Do 3D social, you are crazy"...
"So no matter what the future holds for Vision Pro, our attitude is to try to break the boundaries between physical and virtual, and we do 3D product development, and we don't care what others think or do, just all in." Jo Xu said.
Back in 2007, when Jobs held up the iPhone to release this smartphone, he also encountered many doubts and misjudgments, such as the popular argument at that time was just "more convenient to see the web"; Microsoft's president at the time said that "the world must follow our rules after all."
Before Apple released the MR device, startups in industries such as AR, VR and XR were experiencing a trough. Chinese giants ByteDance and Tencent have laid off some employees in this field, and some startups in this field have been struggling to release new products and seek financing.
The world is changing too fast, because of ChatGPT, as soon as 2023 begins, the focus shifts to AI, big models, and a dazzling array of new products. But Apple always understands the world in its own way, it has its own logic.
Driven by the release of new products, Apple's stock price once hit an intraday record high in early trading, and its market value briefly stood at the $2.9 trillion mark during the session. However, the stock price fell 0.76% at the close of trading at $179.58 per share, with the latest total market value of $2.82 trillion, evaporating $84.5 billion (about 600 billion yuan) from its peak.
The price is 25,000 yuan, and the market value has fallen by 600 billion
Apple Vision Pro has a distinct Apple product style, pays attention to details, attaches importance to the sense of technology, and develops needs rather than meeting needs.
It looks like a ski goggle with a rotary button and keys on top. Once put on, users can navigate with their eyes and operate by hand or voice.
Source: Visual China
In a room or airplane, users can create a space, such as watching a 4K HD movie or playing a game, and the screen can fill your space for maximum immersion.
"This frees you from the control of the display, and the space around you becomes an endless canvas," Cook said. ”
This product has both AR and VR functions. It is equipped with Apple's first 3D camera and developed the "Eyesight" function, which allows users to put on glasses without being completely disconnected from reality, and it becomes transparent when someone approaches you, so that others can see your eyes and communicate with you.
"Focusing on people-to-people connections, rather than product users, is Apple's consistent insistence." One product manager spoke highly of the "Eyesight" feature.
In terms of connection with external products, Apple Vision Pro is also relatively silky, such as a glance can be connected to a Mac notebook, the 13-inch screen will become a huge display.
In order to achieve the above scenario, Apple used a unique dual-chip M1 and R1 for this headset device, using 12 cameras, 5 sensors and 6 microphones to ensure that what you see in front of you is lag-free and natural.
Even the straps of the headset device are fully scrupulous. According to Apple's promotional video, Apple studied thousands of cheeks, head shapes, etc.
"Finally, the main scene with glasses is to watch videos instead of playing games, and it is the efficiency of the real world that improves, the scene fills, rather than creating a new universe." A senior product manager posted in the circle of friends that she said that she would start as soon as possible.
But the capital market does not seem to be optimistic about this product released after 7 years. On the day of the release, Apple's latest total market value was $2.82 trillion, evaporating $84.5 billion (about 600 billion yuan) from its peak. Disney, a partner of Apple Vision Pro, closed up 0.25%, and the stock price rose significantly after the announcement of Apple's headset. Shares of Unity, a software company that claims to be working with Apple to develop headsets, jumped more than 17 percent.
Create another 100 billion "fruit chain" industry?
Hardware devices are losing innovation and are not being noticed. In the smartphone market, the latest report released by market research agency Counterpoint Research shows that the global smartphone market shipped 280.2 million units in the first quarter of 2023, down 14% year-on-year and 7% month-on-month. In the first quarter alone, shipments in the global mobile phone market decreased by about 45 million units year-on-year. In China, smartphone sales fell 5 percent year-on-year, the lowest in the first quarter since 2014.
Developers around the world are waiting for Apple to bring new ecological creations.
Xiong Wen, CEO of Dream Bloom (iQiyi Intelligent), told "Chinese Entrepreneur" that Apple's release of this device is a great incentive, reflecting the approach of industry leaders, "We can see the wave led by Meta as an era, Apple will open a new era, the baton of the entire industry has made a shift."
Photo by Shi Xiaobing
Xiong Wen pointed out that metaverse players Meta, including ByteDance's Pico, have too low ceilings for game consoles. They are all in the case that the technology in this industry is not particularly mature, too much pursuit of low-price competition, "Internet companies hope to attract the largest user base with the lowest price, and then do iteration", but this logic does not apply to the hardware industry.
The cost reduction of the hardware industry is based on the maturity of the upstream technology ecology of this industry, based on Moore's Law This way of reduction. "To leverage a market, we must first make this product with the best experience, through scale effects, through the maturity of the industry, the cost will naturally be reduced." Xiong Wen said.
AR company paid tribute to unknown CEO Wu Dezhou said that Apple's entry can ripen the entire AR and VR supply chain. For startups, focusing on a wave of cows and constantly thinking at one point may lead to more innovative applications at this point.
For industry insiders, the so-called "iPhone moment" is not the release of the mobile phone, but the prosperity of its content ecology, and they locate this node at the moment when Apple's App Store has more than 1 million apps.
Jo Xu said that Apple's spring thunder is actually just to wake up its ecological friends who have been hibernating, don't lie flat, it's time to get up and do big things. And those software and hardware developers who are good at calculating "the product is too expensive", "the popularity is not good" and "Huaqiangbei will make 999 replacement" may be the main force that constitutes the entrepreneurial wave, but the main force also means becoming cannon fodder.
"To do ecology is to have a new killer application, but also to have the possibility of making cannon fodder fly, this is Apple's most powerful - developer ecology, even if I do cannon fodder, I am willing to play with you." Jo Xu said.
Apple is not a pioneer in the MR space, and it is even a bit behind. Just as Apple was not the first pioneer of multi-touch screens for personal computer mice or smartphones, it was able to carry it forward and become a phenomenon.
One developer said that Apple has never had a first-come-later-later concept, that is, it feels that the product experience is ready (ready), and whether the world is AI or metaverse, I only care if my users are impressed by my product.