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Apple and Meta (formerly Facebook Inc.) have clashed multiple times over the App Store and privacy — and the two may soon become hardware competitors as well. While Apple is preparing its own AR/VR headsets and glasses products, Meta also wants to launch AR glasses as early as 2024. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is apparently inspired by Apple and is aiming for an “iPhone moment” for the product launch.
A costly project
Citing a former employee who worked on the project, a report by The Vergethat Zuckerberg’s “ego is intertwined with the development of the new AR glasses”. The source added that Zuckerberg wants it to “be an iPhone moment” when the AR glasses are released. He is alluding to the great success of Apple, whose iPhone has shaped generations of smartphones.
But despite this hope and an ambitious schedule (Zuckerberg wants to launch its product in 2024), Meta is apparently still a long way from AR glasses becoming a reality. The report states that Meta does not have a “working, wearable prototype” of the glasses, only a “stationary demo station that sits on a table.”
Although Meta has already invested billions in the development of its AR glasses, internal sales expectations for the first version, aimed at early adopters and developers, are in the low tens of thousands. A price hasn’t been set yet, but the device will certainly cost more than the company’s $299 Quest VR headset, as the material costs for the AR glasses are said to be several thousand dollars. The cost will test Zuckerberg’s willingness to subsidize the price of the hardware to encourage adoption. At least, that’s Meta’s competitive strategy, which aims in part to undercut the profit margins of other players like Apple.
In addition to the higher-end AR glasses, which are referred to internally as “Nazare”, Meta is also developing a low-priced AR glasses, which are also scheduled to be launched in 2024. “Meta hopes to sell tens of millions of smart glasses by the end of this decade,” the report said.
In the meantime, Apple is planning its own AR and VR products, starting with one Mixed reality headset, which could be on the market as early as next year. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo even said Apple hopes to “replace iPhone with AR devices in 10 years”. Whether the goals of Meta or Apple correspond to reality remains to be seen.