What’s Coming?
Over the next few weeks there will be a number of CE product releases, some of which will happen in conjunction with CES, while others will have their own release promotions. In fact two popular Chinese smartphone brands, OnePlus (pvt) and Honor (pvt), will be announcing their newest models, the OnePlus Ace 3 and the Honor X50 GT tonight, while Oppo (pvt) is set to release its Find X7 series on 1/8, Honor again on the 10th with the Magic 6 series, the ROG (2357.TT) 8 gaming series follows on the 16th, and the crecendo on January 18 with Samsung’s (005930.KS) Galaxy S24 flagship smartphone series.
As always, each model will offer its unique feature set combination to entice consumers to trade in their old phones and step up to the new, but there is one feature than spans all of these smartphone brand offerings, and that is they all use one form or another of Qualcomm’s (QCOM) Snapdragon 8 chipset, although there is some expectation that the Oppo Find X7 might also offer Mediatek’s (2454.TT) Dimensity 9300. Its early in the year, with lots of new smartphones to be released, but we have to note that at least for January, Qualcomm seems to be at the top of the hit parade as far as smartphone chipsets, although said chipset decisions were made months ago.
That said, all of the smartphone excitement will fade away quickly as Apple (AAPL) is thought to be releasing its Vision Pro XR device in the US on January 27th, finally revealing (hopefully) the details about its first venture into the AR/AV/XR world, or the world of ‘spatial computing’ as Apple calls it. While the hardware details of the Vision Pro will be revealed this month, the $3,500 price tag will be a bit of a challenge for consumers, and we expect, with corrective optical inserts, and a number of other optional extras, the real cost will be ~$4,000. Perhaps not enough to stop a number of super-fans that will buy anything with the Apple logo ttached, or the “I have to be the first” crowd, but the steep price will be a bit much, even for ardent iPhone fans.
Apple needs to set itself apart from other VR/AR players, particularly Meta (FB), whose seeding philosophy, while costing a bit of change, has allowed them to rule the VR space for years, so why not start high, as the price can always be reduced but rarely can increase? It sets Apple apart while giving the psychological impression that there is some inherent value in the device itself that ‘allows’ Apple to charge such a high price, but we believe that has little to do with the hardware, and in fact, we expect the price will be justifiable if the device operates as it has been advertised. That does njot mean that the hardware will perform, as Apple is smart enough to know that they need to make sure the quality of the hardware is a given before the dvice hits the shelves, but the Vision Pro’s ability to create a new user environment will be the key to its success.
The risk to Apple is if the user experience does not live up to expectations, the hardware is a moot point. Apple has set a picture in the minds of potential buyers of a new concept in the user’s environment, one not dependent on games or the ‘metaverse’, but one that promises a more flexible environment thjat allows the user to do whatever they so desire (work, play, relax, socialize) more easily and more efficiently than is possible outside of the Vision Pro environment. No longer would an analyst be struggling with multiple monitors, multiple windows, and desktops, but would have an open space as wide as necessary to work with. Apple also promises that videos will take on new dimension and give the user visual opportunities that were not available before, all of which will operate without lag or workariounds, and that is only a piece of what the Apple marketing machine has promised or implied, and that is a lot to live up to. Apple has had it’s big winners (iPhone, iPod, App Store) and its failures (Lisa, Butterfly keyboard, Firewire), so the Vision Pro will be a game changer one way or another, and we should know before mid-year.
As always, each model will offer its unique feature set combination to entice consumers to trade in their old phones and step up to the new, but there is one feature than spans all of these smartphone brand offerings, and that is they all use one form or another of Qualcomm’s (QCOM) Snapdragon 8 chipset, although there is some expectation that the Oppo Find X7 might also offer Mediatek’s (2454.TT) Dimensity 9300. Its early in the year, with lots of new smartphones to be released, but we have to note that at least for January, Qualcomm seems to be at the top of the hit parade as far as smartphone chipsets, although said chipset decisions were made months ago.
That said, all of the smartphone excitement will fade away quickly as Apple (AAPL) is thought to be releasing its Vision Pro XR device in the US on January 27th, finally revealing (hopefully) the details about its first venture into the AR/AV/XR world, or the world of ‘spatial computing’ as Apple calls it. While the hardware details of the Vision Pro will be revealed this month, the $3,500 price tag will be a bit of a challenge for consumers, and we expect, with corrective optical inserts, and a number of other optional extras, the real cost will be ~$4,000. Perhaps not enough to stop a number of super-fans that will buy anything with the Apple logo ttached, or the “I have to be the first” crowd, but the steep price will be a bit much, even for ardent iPhone fans.
Apple needs to set itself apart from other VR/AR players, particularly Meta (FB), whose seeding philosophy, while costing a bit of change, has allowed them to rule the VR space for years, so why not start high, as the price can always be reduced but rarely can increase? It sets Apple apart while giving the psychological impression that there is some inherent value in the device itself that ‘allows’ Apple to charge such a high price, but we believe that has little to do with the hardware, and in fact, we expect the price will be justifiable if the device operates as it has been advertised. That does njot mean that the hardware will perform, as Apple is smart enough to know that they need to make sure the quality of the hardware is a given before the dvice hits the shelves, but the Vision Pro’s ability to create a new user environment will be the key to its success.
The risk to Apple is if the user experience does not live up to expectations, the hardware is a moot point. Apple has set a picture in the minds of potential buyers of a new concept in the user’s environment, one not dependent on games or the ‘metaverse’, but one that promises a more flexible environment thjat allows the user to do whatever they so desire (work, play, relax, socialize) more easily and more efficiently than is possible outside of the Vision Pro environment. No longer would an analyst be struggling with multiple monitors, multiple windows, and desktops, but would have an open space as wide as necessary to work with. Apple also promises that videos will take on new dimension and give the user visual opportunities that were not available before, all of which will operate without lag or workariounds, and that is only a piece of what the Apple marketing machine has promised or implied, and that is a lot to live up to. Apple has had it’s big winners (iPhone, iPod, App Store) and its failures (Lisa, Butterfly keyboard, Firewire), so the Vision Pro will be a game changer one way or another, and we should know before mid-year.
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