Apple To ‘Immediately’ Dominate High-End AR Headset Market With Its First Model, But Company Will Also Benefit Meta’s Business

wccftech.com:

A few days from now, Apple is said to preview its first AR headset model at the WWDC keynote, signaling to companies such as Meta that it is arriving in their market to stir up some trouble. However, one report states that while the California-based giant will likely capture the premium mixed-reality headset market, it will also help Meta along the way.

At its rumored price of $3,000, Apple’s first AR headset will be out of budget for millions of potential customers, and this may be one reason why the company is only estimated to ship around 100,000 units for the entire year, which rounds up to a revenue of just $3 billion. However, despite the head-mounted wearable not being an immediate monetary success, Mark Gurman mentions in his latest ‘Power On’ newsletter that Apple will take control of the higher-end market.

The Bloomberg reporter also states that Meta may benefit from Apple’s first AR headset, as the latter can popularize this product the same way it popularized the wireless earbuds market. Consumers who cannot purchase the absurdly pricey Apple AR headset will likely want to try out the more affordable alternatives from Meta, slowly increasing customer adoption for this product category.

“With headsets, Apple will immediately own the upscale market — headsets that cost more than $2,000 — but Meta will remain dominant in the cheaper segment. Meta may even benefit from Apple helping popularize XR, using that buzz to serve consumers who can’t afford a top-of-the-line model.”

Unfortunately, despite generating substantial momentum in this space, one analyst believes that Apple’s AR headset will take around seven years to contribute to just 10 percent of the company’s overall business, meaning that the iPhone will