Apple Inc.’s new Vision Pro headset is “frightening,” in the view of one Wall Street analyst, and he means that in a good way.
While Apple
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isn’t creating the market for virtual or augmented reality headsets, it’s bringing its proven advantages to the table, and those were on display Monday as the company teased Vision Pro at its annual WWDC developer event.
See more: The $3,499 Vision Pro headset, iOS 17, and everything else Apple just announced at WWDC
“The fear among competitors should grow when it comes to Apple’s 3+ years of more advanced custom chip design, sensor integration, and synergy with other Apple devices,” wrote Oppenheimer’s Martin Yang.
Yet the real question is whether Apple can see traction with the Vision Pro and ultimately succeed in driving mass headset adoption where others, like Oculus owner and Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Inc.
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have failed. Even Yang, who sees Apple in “league of its own” in headsets now, is skeptical initially.
Yang doubts the device will be “a mass-market success right away,” noting that “high price ($3,499), form factor (too big, too heavy), and lack of compelling use cases” could limit near-term unit shipments at “well under” 500,000.
Read: Will the new Apple headset provide a lifeline for Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse — or kill it?
Monness, Crespi, Hardt & Co. analyst Brian White said that the preview marked a “big day” for Apple, though the company still has a “long journey” ahead.
“In our view, Apple Vision Pro provides inhabitants of Planet Apple with an intriguing new experience in the realm of spatial computing; however, we believe achieving mass adoption will prove a long-term journey, not a sprint,” he wrote. “Apple discussed various use cases for Apple Vision Pro; however, we are a bit skeptical about many of these,” even as “gaming and viewing digital video content make sense to us.”
Opinion: Vision Pro could be Apple’s biggest hit since iPhone, but that won’t be known for years
Rosenblatt Securities analyst Barton Crockett chimed in that “much needs to be clarified” in order for him to form a view on whether Apple will benefit financially from this move.
“Apple’s Vision Pro launch at WWDC23 came out a little disappointing in pricing and timing,” he wrote, as the device won’t be out in time for the critical holiday season. “Against low expectations, that might be a modest near-term headwind for the shares. But whether this device family will grow over time into something meaningful for Apple will only become clear later on, as users and reviewers get more time with the device and answer basic questions about comfort and functionality.”
Don’t miss: Is it worth spending $3,499 on Apple’s Vision Pro VR headset? Read this first.
Needham’s Laura Martin saw one dramatic way that Apple could drive sales of the Vision Pro as she suggested once again that Apple consider buying Walt Disney Co.
See also: Apple buying Disney? Analyst explains why they’re ‘worth more together’
“The fact that DIS CEO Bob Iger was on stage touting AAPL’s Vision Pro googles demonstrates the compelling strategic fit between DIS’s content and AAPL’s wearable technology,” she wrote Tueaday. “At $3,500, we expect adoption to be slow. However, if AAPL buys DIS, its storytellers could create unique content to drive consumer adoption of AAPL’s Vision Pro goggles.”
D.A. Davidson’s Tom Forte, meanwhile, used the launch as an opportunity to shift to a neutral rating on Apple’s stock, which he previously deemed a buy.
“We are downgrading shares on our belief that any good news from the AR/VR product launch is already reflected in the share price,” he wrote. “In addition, we believe there are important structural challenges for Apple when it comes to consumer adoption of AR/VR hardware, which could limit the near-term impact on its sales and profitability.”
This story originally appeared on Marketwatch
