Citing a report by Apple analyst Ming Chi Guo, Bloomberg News reported on the 9th (local time) that iPhone maker Apple will introduce a VR headset as early as this spring.
Ming Chi Kuo, a researcher at TF International Securities in Hong Kong, said in a recent investor report that Apple announced VR headsets at a developer event in June, which will be held this spring or annually, and predicted that they will be delivered from autumn.
The name of Apple’s VR device will be “Reality Pro,” and the operating system that drives it will be “xrOS,” according to the report. “Pro” is Apple’s high-end product line, and “xr” is an abbreviation for extended reality and includes reality and virtual reality.
Industries predict that Apple’s entry into the VR device market will compete fiercely with Meta, which invests heavily in metaverse (expanded virtual world).
With Apple’s launch, it is inevitable to face off in the VR device market, where Meta is virtually winning. However, the industry believes that Meta’s market dominance is not yet firm. In addition, Meta’s VR headset quest series focuses on pure virtual reality, which is somewhat different from Apple’s products that combine the virtual world and the real world.
Experts believe that if Apple fills this gap, the VR market situation, which has recently been in a slump, could change as well as recapture the top spot.
CCS Insight, a market analyst firm, said, “If a company has the ability to change the VR market in a day, it is Apple.”
CCS Insight predicted that global shipments of VR headsets fell more than 12% from the previous year to 9.6 million units last year, and that the VR market will be sluggish again this year due to concerns over an economic slowdown and inflation.
